EUSTACE CAREY: 



A MISSIONARY IN INDIA.. 



" He who is not possessed of a considerable portion of a self- 
denying spirit can engage in no employment more irksome and 
intolerable than that of a missionary." — Robert Hall. 



fSL JWemotr 
By Mrs. EUSTACE CAREY. 



LONDON: 

PEWTRESS & CO., 4, AVE MARIA LANE. 
J. HEATON & SON, 21, WARWICK LAKE. 

1857. 




W. F. CAREY, PRINTER , 
PORTOBELLO ROAD, DOTTING HILL. LONDON. 



WHOSE TENDER REGARD AND HOSPITALITIES 

WERE, FOE MANY YEARS, 
SO ABUNDANTLY BESTOWED ON MR. CAREY, 

THIS BOOK 
|$ gratefallg {Bthmtzh 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



In the last week of July, 1855, an advertisement 
appeared in the newspapers of a speedy publication of 
a Memoir of Mr. Carey. This arose from a mistake 
on the part of the advertiser. 

I hope it will be distinctly understood, that at that 
time not a line of this book was written, neither had 
it even been thought of. This fact, together with ill 
health, will explain to the reader the cause of delay 
in publication. 

When beginning the work, I found scarcely any 
materials in my own possession from which to 
compile a Memoir. It was Mr. Carey's habit to 
destroy all written memorials of every description. 
On application to his correspondents, very few of his 
letters were forthcoming. This must account for the 
prominence of my own remarks in the early part of 
the book. 

In giving the history of this life, I have endea- 



vi 



PREFACE. 



voured to present no more detail than was necessary 
to embody or exhibit its spirit ; believing, that c< the 
man is the spirit he worked in ; — not what he did " 
(merely), "but what he became." 

On this account there has been little attention 
paid to the minute filling up of all the months and 
years of his earthly sojourn, for surely a life is not a 
common calendar. 

It is much to be regretted that the histories of so 
many of the good and great should be shut up in 
large tomes and bodies of divinity, fit only to be read 
by the learned. 

Should any one be disposed to censure the too 
frequent use of Scripture, I can only say that my 
main hope rests in the good which may follow upon 
a perusal of the words which "the Holy Ghost 
teacheth ; for they are spirit and they are life." 

Some explanation is needed as to one particular. 
In the introductory chapter to the Memoir,* an allu- 
sion is made to a sketch of the rise of the Baptist 
Mission and history of its founders, which was to have 
preceded it. This does not appear, from the reason 
that, after the first chapters had been placed in the 
hands of the printer, the material, which it seemed 
* See page 10. 



PKEFACE. 



vii 



necessary to publish, so much increased as to leave no 
room for it. Should the perusal of this book tend, 
as it is earnestly hoped it may do, to the revivification 
in any degree, of the missionary spirit, and should 
it seem desirable, I propose working this sketch into 
an abridged edition of my husband's life of Dr. Carey, 

The portrait in this book is a sketch from memory 
by a member of his family. Mr. Carey's aversion to 
having his likeness taken was so excessive, that any 
allusion to the subject was always painful. Thus, 
out of regard to his strongly expressed feelings, the 
matter was delayed from time to time. 

I have desired to make this a missionary book. If 
I have at all succeeded, and if, by God's blessing, in 
this character it should be made in the least decree 
useful, my labour will not have been spent in vain. 

Esther Carey. 



Xentish Town, December, 1856. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 



I. INTRODUCTORY 1 

II. PARENTAGE — EARLY LIFE 13 

III. REMOVAL TO NORTHAMPTON — BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS 

AUNTS — MRS. M. CAREY'S INSTRUCTION AND COR- 
RESPONDENCE 37 

IV. EDUCATION — BAPTISM — EARLY MINISTRY — STUDIES 

AT OLNEY 70 

V. RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE — HIS THOUGHTS 
ON STUDENTS FOR THE MINISTRY — INTERCOURSE 
"WITH MR. HALL 94 

VI. DESIGNATION SERVICE — VOYAGE 120 

VII. THE RELIGION OF INDIA — TVHO IS SUFFICIENT FOR 

THESE THINGS? 138 

VIII. ARRIVAL IN INDIA — RESIDENCE AT SERAMPORE — 
REMOVAL TO CALCUTTA — WORK AMONGST THE 
NATIVES AND SOLDIERS 165 

IX. THE CALCUTTA MISSIONARY UNION — CONTINUED 

LABOURS 202 

X. STATION AT DOORGAPORE — JOURNAL 231 

XI. EFFECTS OF IDOLATRY — CIRCULAR-ROAD CHAPEL — 

LETTERS 265 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XII. THE JUNIOR BRETHREN — THE ORIGIN OP THEIR 

DISTINCT WORK IN CALCUTTA 294: 

XIII. HEALING OF DIFFERENCES — SERIOUS ILLNESS — 

LETTER OF MR. STATHAM 318 

XIV. VOYAGE TO AMERICA — ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND . . 375 
XV. HIS DEPUTATIONAL WORK 407 

XVI. JAMAICA AND SLAVERY — JOURNEYS CONTINUED . 455 

XVII. MISCELLANEOUS 490 



XVIII. CHANGE OF RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOCIETY — VIEWS 

OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY — OUTLINES OF CHARACTER 528 

XIX. EVENING, WITH ITS CLOUDS, PROLONGING ITS LAST 

GOLDEN BEAMS 553 



EEEATA. 



Page 15, line 23— for truths, read truth. 
Page 15, line 25— for thence, read hence. 
Page 55, line 7— for wake, read make. 
Page 56, lines 1 and 14— for there, read here. 
Page 60, line 25— for object of his supreme, read Supreme 
Object. 

Page 84, line 16— for three years or four, read three or four 
years. 

Page 137, line 5— for combatible, read combustible. 



MEMOIK. 



CHAP. L 

INTRODUCTORY. 

" The memory of the just is blessed." — Pkov. x. 7. 
" The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." 

Ps. cxii. 6. 

If the above characteristics, so graphically delineated 
by inspired penmen, were pre-eminently his, the brief 
history of whose life it is sought here to record ; then 
to trace the surviving impressions of such memory, 
and to gather up the broken fragments of incident 
whose remembrance takes so vital a hold of the best 
affections of the human heart, is no unpleasing task. 

The main ends of Christian biography are said to 
be "example and instruction: by faithfully describing 
the lives of men eminent for godliness, we not only 
embalm their memory, but furnish ourselves with 
fresh materials and motives for a holy life."* And 
thus while not only Christian biography, but bio- 
graphy in general, has become important as conveying 
I rich stream of wealth into the ocean of the general 

* Andrew Puller. 
B 



2 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



literature of our country ; it is not the less valuable 
for the various facts and details which, as a tributary, 
it furnishes to increase the sources of our useful know- 
ledge and of our national history. 

Hence it is, more especially with regard to history, 
that some vivid delineations of the lives of dis- 
tinguished persons, whether nobles, warriors, states- 
men, or those who have in successive periods been the 
leaders of the people in poetry and art, in science and 
philanthropy, are clearly sketched on its pages, are 
woven into its very fabric ; and through the medium 
of its undying record, their influence descends to the 
latest posterity. " It is not the least debt we owe 
unto history that it hath made us acquainted with our 
dead ancestors, and out of the depth and darkness of 
the earth, delivered us their memory and fame/'* 
And if to history, certainly to the original source of 
such " memory and fame," biography, " we owe not 
the least debt." 

But while its incidental use is important in the 
relation which it thus sustains to our national history, 
may not the recorded lives of the saints of God, reli- 
gious biography, bear a similar relation to the church 
of Jesus Christ, and thus alike incidentally furnish 
materials for its future historian ? It is presumed 
that it may, and hence arises the duty which survivors 



* Sir Walter Raleigh. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



3 



owe to posterity, to record high Christian worth and 
elevated piety ; that they may by such means attempt 
to gather up the threads of their history, of whom 
" the world is not worthy/' as they lie on the cold 
earth, broken and scattered by the rude hand of 
death ; and weaving them into a fabric for the service 
of the church, a " banner to be displayed because of 
the truth," they may memorialize their soul's final 
triumph over all evil, and their union unbroken and 
for ever with the church of Christ on high. On such 
trophy the motto is, cc Glory to God in the highest. 
Unto him that loved us and washed us erom our 
sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings 
and priests unto god and his father : to hlm be 
glory and dominion eor ever and ever, amen." 

In the history of every one who has followed the 
Lamb in the regeneration of the world, and who has 
battled with life on its broad and common field, there 
is much which testifies of the love and faithfulness of 
God, and which would, if recorded, present words of 
encouragement and consolation to him who is weary, 
— to the fearful-hearted, who while " faint is yet pur- 
suing" the uphill path of life. Of necessity, multitudes 
of such lives pass away unobserved and to be soon 
forgotten; no trace being left of them even on the 
sands of the desert which they have trodden in weak- 
ness and fear, to warn of his danger the unheeding or 
benighted traveller. To the honour of many of the 

B 2 



4 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



poor of Christ's flock, it must be remembered, that 
while contending with poverty, itself a fearful calamity, 
and with innumerable other ills incident to this mortal 
life, they do also in their obscurity " contend earnestly 
for the faith once delivered to the saints and while, 
in rural districts more especially, they suffer the loss of 
gifts and of patronage, and sometimes even of the 
labour by which they gain a scanty supply of their 
daily wants ; their good name is also cast out as evil, 
and made the butt and scorn of the wicked. These 
are names of those who are not only " unknow T n to 
song - J and to praise, but even to the simplest annals 
of every-day-life ; yet their record is on high, " and a 
book of remembrance is written before Him, for them 
that feared the Lord and that thought upon his 
name ; and they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, 
in that day when I make up my jewels." 

If " such honour have all his saints/' it may not 
be presuming too much to suppose, that an humble 
attempt to trace the divine providence which led 
through the intricacies and conflicts of this life, one 
who was not only a servant of Christ, but a faithful 
preacher of his gospel, and also a devoted missionary 
who hazarded his life for the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, will be welcomed by many, who, on a perusal 
of its contents, may find somewhat to strengthen 
their faith and to encourage their hope. And here it 
may be matter of consolation to the reader, as it has, 



INTRODUCTORY, 



in no small degree, been to the writer, that, although 
our way is through a desert land, through the waste 
howling wilderness, yet will it be as guided by an 
Almighty hand; for "He led him about, and instructed 
him ; he kept him as the apple of his eye." 

We may, therefore, take courage. Our task is not 
that of recording mere feats of worldly bravery and 
conquest; of heroism in matters pertaining to this 
life only, or even of mere philanthropy ; but of the 
successful wielding of those weapons which " are 
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong- 
holds ; — and bringing every thought into captivity to 
the obedience of Christ — of that moral and spiritual 
excellence, under whose heavenly culture and growth, 
every faculty of the mind is found the more readily to 
develope itself, and to advance in the various depart- 
ments of its educational process, until mature years 
call for a consecration of them and of the whole nature 
on the high field of active service and missionary labour 
i e in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." 

Again may we take courage. Our work is not that 
of tracing a life through the complexities of earthly 
business and care, nor is it that of threading our way 
on with it through the labyrinths of a nation's poli- 
tical history, not inaptly resembling those mighty 
rivers of the New World, whose continuous and won- 
drous course is an ever-widening and yet more swell- 
ing current, hurried on regardless of all impediments, 



6 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



and forming rapids and cataracts which alike attract 
and terrify the beholder ; — but it is that of following 
one which may be compared to that stream wdiose 
gentle course, like " Siloa^s brook, flows fast by the 
oracle of God." Side by side with it, below the level 
of the tumultuous and billowy sea, in the low valley 
of the Jordan, it flows onward, silently, slowly, yet 
surely, alike through the arid waste and the verdant 
and well-watered plain. Often have these pure and 
transparent waters taken by surprise and refreshed the 
weary traveller ; and, like the Elim of old, they have 
nourished the goodly palm, whose fruit has been for 
the invigoration, and whose shadow has invited to 
the repose, of him who was ready to perish. As on 
these waters " go no ships, so is there no leviathan to 
play therein." Unperturbed, they collect not the soil 
of earth ; unhurried, they utter no murmur of discon- 
tent ; but silent, except as their commingling falls in 
silvery accents on the ear, as the sound of distant 
music, or of harpers harping upon their harps. Nor 
are these waters lost amidst the waves of the Jordan ; 
as a distinct current they pass across the river of death, 
and are only invisible to those on earth when blending 
their harmonies with " the river of the water of life, 
which is in the midst of the paradise of God." 

The task, then, which we have before us, as has 
been intimated, is to consist rather in a delineation of 
growth of character, the means by which that growth 



INTRODUCTORY, 



7 



lias been promoted, and the influence which it has 
exerted on others ; intellectual advancement, and how 
produced ; and, above all other things, as religious 
biography, to exhibit the development and culture of 
the spiritual faculties, the means by which they were 
awakened through the power of the Spirit of God ; 
how temptations have been effectually repelled, real 
good by diligent and persevering labour accomplished 
in the world ; the world used as not abusing it ; — in 
a word, the means of trial, or of prosperity, which 
have contributed, as far as it was attainable on earth, 
to growth unto "a perfect man in Christ Jesus." 
For exhibiting the manner in which this last growth 
of the precious seed of the kingdom which has been 
deposited low down in the soil of the soul, we have a 
beautiful figure in one of the apt similitudes of our 
Lord : u Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground 
and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth 
forth much fruit." Here is the burying the seed in 
the earth, the silent, slow, dark, and mysterious ger- 
mination in the cold and dead of winter ; at length 
the putting forth above the ground, signs of life and 
vigour in the spring ; then its onward progress above 
ground, " first the blade, then the ear, after that the 
full corn in the ear." The ripening of the corn in 
the sun and wind of heaven in summer ; the putting 
in the sickle because the harvest is ripe ; the gather- 
ing of the golden grain into the garner in the russet 



8 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



hours of autumn ; all this is minutely intimated in 
Scripture, with the gladsome and angelic shout of 
u harvest home/' when the soul, released from earth, 
meets the joyous welcome of loved companions and 
friends in the mansions of the blessed. 

But to delineate thus, to its fullest extent, an 
individual's progress and successful triumph over a 
world of care and sin, and the pressing evil propensi- 
ties of his own nature ; over also Satan, that malig- 
nant foe and " accuser of the brethren/' is more than 
one person can perform for another. This the writer, 
therefore, does not attempt. That which is here 
attempted, with the Divine assistance, is to describe 
the growth above the ground, as in the corn just 
referred to ; or, to change the figure, to take a place 
in the outer court of the temple at the time of in- 
cense, when, although is seen only the exterior of 
that inner sanctuary, the soul, yet may be gained 
some sight of the cloud which overshadows and fills 
the temple of the Lord. We may not have seen the 
pure fire fall from heaven to consume the sacrifice, the 
first influence producing the good and destroying the 
evil ; but we may gain more than a glimpse of this 
wondrous work, for we have the odorous presence, the 
balmy perfume as of flowers after a summer's shower, 
of the daily ascending incense which rises "as a 
sweet savour unto God." And of the inner sanctuary 
of service which we see not, it is said, " I the Lord do 



INTRODUCTORY. 



9 



keep it; lest any hurt it I will keep it night and 
day." But while c( the heart knoweth its own bit- 
terness/' so does it only know its giant struggle with 
sin, and with a " world that lieth in the wicked one." 
Yet when kept clear of those painted chambers of 
imagery," which fain would reflect light on the soul 
from the decorated, many -coloured, gleamy devices 
of its own, it turns to its shekinah, the one point 
whence should radiate all the light and glory of the 
place, — in its light then, we who are without, see 
light, for " ye are the light of the world." Neither 
can we who are without, be ignorant as spectators of 
the day-by-day provisioning of those u side chambers" 
which coil still upward in this " building of God," 
where are to be laid the most holy things, that here 
the small corroding cares, and the forbidden, tempting 
pleasures of life may not obtrude themselves. For 
these chambers are in the thickness of the wall of the 
temple, and under them is the entry into it; a 
winding path it is in the souPs being, which no eye 
hath seen but his eye, which "is on it from the begin- 
ning of the year even unto the end of it. Ye are the 
temple of the Holy Ghost, as God hath said, I will 
dwell in them and walk in them." But this inner 
life who shall delineate ? It must remain a mystery ; 
like its source, we (C cannot tell whence it cometh, and 
whither it goeth," but we know that it is; and like 
one of those glorious mountains in the Alps, hidden 



10 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



in mist, " until the day dawn and the shadows flee 
away/' so with the Christian life, "it is hid with 
Christ in God." It is one of the secret things which 
belongs unto him; it is "kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation : " and just as full, un- 
clouded, noontide sun reveals in bold outline and 
gigantic mass those Alpine heights, so distinct does 
the grace and beaming forth of the Saviour's glory 
make the aspect of the soul that waits for him "unto 

THE PERFECT DAY." 

The main interests which we have before us are so 
interwoven in their commencement with the first 
modern missionary enterprise in India, that the 
writer deemed it impracticable successfully to conduct 
the reader through the former, without briefly 
glancing at the latter. This, it is hoped, is not 
looked upon as an unnecessary detention from the 
chief object before us, nor as irrelevant to the main 
design of this book; it being conceived that in no 
better way could the influence arising from a devoted 
missionary's life and labours, the tohole intention and 
one desire of his heart be accomplished and perpetu- 
ated, than by an attempt, in however small a degree, 
in this record which is made of his life, to serve the 
great cause for which he lived, and in the promotion 
of which he died. It is also to the writer a pleasing 
thought, that the last in the Missionary Society 



INTRODUCTORY. 



11 



bearing the honoured name of its founder, should thus 
be associated with the first. 

In what manner the missionary element dwelt in 
Mr. Carey is as well known as his life. He was not 
only by its means as " an epistle of Christ known and 
read of all men/' but he was one who carried his let- 
ter of commendation with him, and delivered it with 
his own hand ; — a messenger to the churches of good 
news from a far country, which was as cold water to 
many a thirsty soul, and as glad tidings from the 
kingdom of the blessed. Many a weary step did he 
set in conveying these pure, cooling draughts from 
the sides, or the heights of Lebanon, to the fainting 
traveller on the arid, burning plains ; yet he never 
counted his steps, nor thought of being weary while 
there was a fellow-creature within his reach, either in 
sickness or health, in life or in the hour of death, at 
home or when in India, to whom he could hasten, and 
to whose lips he could press the cup of his Saviour's 
salvation. For ten years it was his happiness to 
"testify of the gospel of the grace of God" in the 
copious, flowing, and all but paradisiacal language of 
Bengalee, and for thirty long years in his native 
tongue at home. During the latter period, he visited 
every part of the United Kingdoms and Ireland many 
times. Wherever he went once, he could go again 
and again ; and, in his temporary residence with, or 
visits to the numerous families who showed him so 



32 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



much hospitality, his name was as a household word ; 
he was received as a brother beloved ; was loved for 
his work's sake as well as for his own sake, if any- 
thing of Ms could be distinct from it, and long will 
his memory be cherished in the hearts and homes of 
thousands of the saints. 

To those Christian friends to whom Mr. Carey was 
thus known as a friend, a brother, a missionary and 
minister of the cross of Christ, this book is gratefully 
dedicated. It may, with their kind permission, take 
its place in the room of their dwelling which knew 
him so often, but will know him no more : there it 
will continue now and when " we shall go to him/' as 
a trifling memorial of the past, and (as has been before 
mentioned) as the gathering up of the fragments that 
remain after the abundant repast, that nothing be 
lost ; or, as the farewell to a long epistle ; the adieu 
after the last long look ; as the remaining streak of 
sun-light thrown on the dark cloud and arrested, 
that it may be wound and treasured up as a star of 
hope and promise, " I will see you again/' ere it sinks 
with its luminary in the western sky ; or, if the com- 
parison be not too presuming, the last ejaculation 
after a long life of prayer, " Thy kingdom come, thy 
will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." 



CHAP. II. 

PARENTAGE. — EARLY LIFE. 

" Lipe is a strange avenue of various trees and flowers 
Lightsome at commencement, but darkening to its end in 

a distant massy portal. 
It beginnetli as a little path, edged with the violet and 

primrose, 

A little path of lawny grass, and soft to tiny feet." 

Amongst all that is artless, fanciful, and poetic in the 
brief period of childhood, how little is retained in 
memory for use, or reference in after-life. This is a 
matter to be regretted, for it would, doubtless, be 
gratifying to the minds of not a few persons to be 
able to recall an incident, or even a vague recollection, 
which might lead them to form some idea, or to arrive 
at some conclusion, as to what was really thought by 
them at first of the various objects with which their 
sight and hearing and touch came in contact ; for who 
does not u look with lingering love on the first star 
of childhood's memory ?" But from the infrequency 
of allusion to such " memory" in biography in gene- 
ral, it may be just to conclude that the majority of 
persons pass the brief period of infancy, as well as that 
of youth, without having one ideal presence, much less 



14 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



a " star," to prevent and to hail the boundless opening 
day. 

There are, however, some impressions and some 
incidents of a very pleasing kind, which might often 
he gathered for the gratification, and, perhaps, in- 
struction of those who train the young ; and there 
are also useful suggestions which might arise from 
regarding facts connected with the earlier develop- 
ment of our being. For instance, we know that 
although possessed of a perfect organ of vision, very 
young children learn the real nature and proper use 
of things only by slow observation, or by means of 
personal contact ; we know, also, that some years are 
passed before the eye conveys to the mind any true 
idea of space or extension for a child has been known 
to make a most sincere attempt, while running in an 
avenue of trees, to catch the moon which peeped 
through at its opposite end. From hence might we 
not learn a practical lesson, the difficulty that there 
is connected with an attempt to convey to the minds 
of very young children any idea of the true nature 
of God, — of his all-pervasive presence, yet his invisi- 
bility alike to all. If persons would take a hint 
from this plain intimation, which the very nature of 
the tender years suggests, there would be fewer 
gratuitous attempts made to thrust upon the atten- 
tion of the child definitions of the attributes of the 
Great Eternal, which lead only to the confusion of the 



PARENTAGE. 



15 



mind, and frequently, in the presence of the young, 
I to the excitation of the risible faculties in persons of 
mature years, and in connexion with his name, the 
mention of which should incite only to the deepest 
reverence. 

Moreover, if we would consider that a grown-up 
person is the tallest object which is kept before the 
eye of a child, we should not wonder at the perfect 
enigma which the works of God present to him, both 
those which are on the earth and in the sky. Truly 
'in this case also, "men are seen as trees walking;" 
land all is wrapped up in profound mystery. In the 
i memory of one child, a distinct impression of astonish- 
ment was long retained, at the giant-height of its 
father or grown-up sister; also at the wonderful 
strength exerted by them, either for the child's relief 
from fatigue, or for his defence in time of danger. 
As it has been fancifully conjectured that men look 
like giants in the eyes of horses, hence the ease with 
which they manage them; we may with certainty 
aver with regard to children, that when first begin- 
ning to use their faculties the eye perceives not, and 
consequently cannot convey to the mind the truths 
las to the comparative height and strength of these 
objects ; and thence the practical lesson above alluded 
to. But that the minds of little children, as has just 
been mentioned, are sometimes subject to a process 
of thought which is very pleasing, and whose con- 



16 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



elusions are highly fanciful and even poetic, there can 
be no doubt. The writer remembers reading two 
instances of this kind, one of a little girl who had 
noticed the stars in the sky, and who had not been 
told how they came there, but who wished with such 
a longing heart to understand this mystery ; and the 
other of a little girl, who on asking "how they 
canie," was told that u God made the stars." The 
former little girl watched her brother with close 
attention while he made holes in wood with what he 
called a gimlet, through which she could see, and 
which were very pretty when put before a candle. 
She mused for some time that night amongst the 
stars ; at length her musings were not in vain. 
Suddenly a bright thought came to her, and when 
night had once more come, and " not too soon," and 

" There was no light in earth or heaven, 
But the cold light of stars/ 5 

she ran to the window, drew aside the curtains, and 
exclaimed, in an ecstacy of joy, " O papa, these are 
the gimlet-holes to let in the glory." 

The other incident may be familiar to the reader as 
beautifully expressed in blank verse by a transatlantic 
poet, which concludes, 

" Presently in the edge of the last tint 
Of sunset, where the blue was melted in 
To the faint golden mellowness, a star 



EARLY LIFE. 17 

Stood suddenly. A laugh of wild delight 
Burst from her lips ; and putting up her hands, 
Her simple thought broke forth expressively — 
c Father, dear father ! God has made a star. 5 55 

With, what entire complacency may such impres- 
sions be allowed to remain uncorrected ! A grievous 
error it would he on the part of any one to mingle a 
plain matter-of-fact view of truth as to the physical 
world, with this the first and purest poetry of infant 
life. Were there less of teaching at this period, when 
the creative faculties are positively labouring to expand 
themselves under the warm spring-tide of the child's 
own common sense, or instinct, or intuition, or what- 
soever we may term that power with which the 
Creator has endowed human beings in their earliest 
existence, and which increases with every day's 
progress or use ; there would be less precocity and 
unnatural growth ; perhaps less of physical disease, 
and a much better foundation laid both in the body 
and the mind of the child, for rigid growth to 
maturity in after-life. But, alas ! for our race, in the 
minds of too many parents and teachers, they no 
sooner think of a human being than they think of 
books ; books too for which the child is made, and 
not the books for the child. An infant's library is 
soon found, and the mind is ruled and lined according 
to the dimensions and requirements of the books, 
and not according to the taste and ability of the 

C 



18 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 

child * It is too frequently forgotten that the recep- 
tive faculty in infants is very small; besides, with 
respect to a thousand things which they are taught, 
they would learn the truth soon enough without any 
teaching at all; and if let alone, when a few years are 
gone by, such impressions as the above will remain, 
as some of those radiant visions of the past which 
glorify the present : 

" Those purple flowers, which in the rudest wind 
Never grow sere 
"When rooted in the garden of the mind, 

Because they are the earliest of the year." 

But there are certain moral impressions which may 
be made on a child very early in life ; and these will 
be found essentially to differ from those of a mere 
physical kind from the more facile manner in which 
they may be apprehended by him. Although he has 
no powers of mind, at present, by which he can un- 

* Infant Schools also in this country might too often fall 
under the same censure. Although books are not much used, 
yet, as generally conducted, there is too much exercise of the think- 
ing and the retentive faculty. Germany has set us a fine example 
in this respect in the manner of their conducting their Kinder 
Garten, in which are furnished, for the exercise of the inventive 
faculty, and to help the memory, all sorts of manual employment. 
All the lessons are learnt in this way : reading and arithmetic, by 
use of letters and figures cut out of wood; natural history, by 
the child's modelling animals, plants, &c, by means of plastic 
clay. These have lately been set up in England by Herr Eonge, 
and attended with great success. 



EAJEtLY LIFE. 19 

derstand the nature and distance of the heavenly 
bodies, but thinks, if he thinks at all (as in the case 
of the little girl with the moon before-mentioned), 
that they are close about the trees, or the roof of 
his father's house ; — it is so arranged by the Creator 
that he should be placed in circumstances to under- 
stand, or be made to understand very early, the 
difference between right and wrong on a small scale, 
and the necessity of obedience to parental authority. 
As parents are, during these very early years, in God's 
stead to the child, hence arises the duty which they 
owe to him of teaching obedience with the first 
development of the faculties ; so that this business of 
governing and of submitting may be clearly under- 
stood by each party. "Willy has a ball to play with 
which he throws about the room; but Willy goes 
into a great passion, and throws it at the nurse with 
full intent to hurt her, were this possible. Now is 
the time, if the parent be present, to teach Willy his 
first lesson in morals, which is the right and which is 
the wrong throwing of the ball. Oh, Willy ! what 
a mercy for you and for all of your order of the 
human genus, that you have so much of the animal, 
and so little of the mental or ethereal nature about 
you. The small deprivation of some little toy, or 
pleasure, will be correction quite equal to your offence, 
and will not fail, if properly administered, to answer 
the chief end of punishment, which is, or ought to 

C 2 



20 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



be, reformation. Now you must be denied the use of 
the ball for to-day, and if the lesson is only remem- 
bered an hour or two by you, it will not be altogether 
in vain. 

A parent has, in these petty or in more criminal 
cases, to be both judge and jury, to dispose of the 
evidence, and to be executioners of their own verdict. 
Yet it is there and then, before Scripture precept can 
be at all known by the child, that commences that 
moral education which the apostle intimates when he 
says, " Fathers provoke not your children to anger, 
but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of 
the Lord." Evident as it is that there is an evil na- 
ture in very young children, it is also as evident that 
there is a tendency to that which is good. This latter, 
so ingenuous, so sincere, so beautiful, it is presumed, 
is that which our Lord takes occasion to point out in 
a little child, when he would set forth the qualities of 
mind in adults which are requisite for the right recep- 
tion of his kingdom. u He took a little child, and 
set him in the midst of them and said, except ye be 
converted and become as little children, ye shall not 
enter into the kingdom of heaven." The teachable, 
humble, unprejudiced, confiding mind ; — these are the 
mental qualities here intended ; and which must at 
once present an advantage to the parent which, while 
it can never be too fully estimated, might probably 
be more frequently turned to better account. But it 



EAKLY LIFE. 



21 



is much to be regretted, that, at this early age, children 
are left so much with others ; parents also, themselves, 
while their children are young, have at command less 
wisdom arising from experience than they have in 
after-years ; their own minds are too often undisci- 
plined, so that if the child be passionate and resentful, 
so is, too frequently, the parent; and the error of 
passionate reproof is often followed by the equal error 
of relenting fondness, which error soon becomes per- 
ceptible to the child. Yet the fact pointed out so 
impressively by the Saviour in the above words, while 
it gives encouragement more especially to Christian 
mothers, who watch over the souls of their children 
" as they that must give account/' may lead them to 
seek more diligently for that renewing of the spirit 
of their mind towards God, which a little child so 
beautifully exhibits towards them; and, under a sense 
of their own weighty care and entire insufficiency in 
this respect, may incline them to take themselves and 
their children more confidingly unto Him, who when 
on earth " took little children up in his arms, put his 
hands upon them and blessed them." 

Thus, also, may those early impressions be made, 
which hereafter, when the truth concerning God and 
the testimony which he hath given of his Son shall be 
familiar to the mind through the learning of verses of 
Scripture, hymns, and other easy lessons, shall, by the 
teaching of the Spirit, become religious impressions. 



22 MEMOIE OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

And if it be asked, what is the first impression which 
should be made on a child, the answer, doubtless, would 
be love, not a sermon on love. If we set before them 
constantly the fact that we love them, by a daily and 
hourly practical demonstration of it, it will be doing 
just that which God does when he teaches his 
children. He does not give them merely lessons on 
love, which may be applicable or otherwise, but a grand 
exhibition of his love in the gift of Christ : the lesson 
is love itself ; for God is love. And with a Christian 
mother, if the first lesson be love, surely to her who 
has learnt in the school of Christ "as a little child" 
this lesson, the way must be already open, with the 
divine blessing, and facilities immediately at hand for 
making such impression. It was reported of an emi- 
nent minister of the gospel of by-gone days, that he 
once said, " his children should fear him if they did 
not love him." But such a decision, however marked 
by heroic bravery, and however favourable the result, 
is surely dangerous as a precedent, and contrary to the 
plain dictates of nature and of right feeling. Were the 
sentence reversed, " they shall love me, although they 
do not fear me the error would be far less and also 
"on the right side." It is difficult to conceive in 
such a case, how that which is to be the main-spring 
of all true obedience, whether towards the Creator or 
the creature, should ever take a secondary place in the 
esteem of any parent. Christianity is not designed to 



EARLY LIFE. 



23 



teach, us that which nature itself so clearly intimates ; 
but its design is to superinduce over our whole being 
an excellence and a glory which we shall in vain search 
for where its influence is unfelt. So that as parents, 
not only our religions 'profession, but our natural affec- 
tion, is at fault, if our love be not powerful enough 
to produce love which shall return to us with increase, 
and richly laden with trust and confidence. Where 
these are secured as pre-requisites, and there is pre- 
sented in a manner, and accompanied with the diction 
suited to those in tender years, a relation of the life 
and death of Christ as a sublime fact, we may leave 
and await the result in faith and hope. If we relate 
to a child some of the wonderful Scripture stories — of 
Joseph sold into Egypt, of David in his mastery of 
the lion and the bear, of Daniel in the lions' den, of 
Peter in prison — the child believes the story so strange, 
so extraordinary, because it can trust the person who 
relates it. Thus, with a little care, in early life, in the 
rosy hours of morning, may the intelligence as well as 
the affections of the tender heart be gathered up by the 
parent, and wound together for use in time to come ; 
and these precious gifts of God through his grace may 
be drawn to their great Creator and to them u hy the 
bands of a man and by the cords of love." B,eligion 
and religious education should be as the magnetic 
needle by which the young steer their way through 
life. If children commit to memory plenty of the 



24? MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

rig-lit kind; — when their minds are stored with 
portions of Scripture, and their memory with loving 
example, we have all that we need for effectuating the 
result united with the divine injunction, " Train up 
a child in the way he should go, and when he is old 
he will not depart from it f and for producing im- 
pressions which shall hereafter, " when by reason of 
age the senses are exercised to discern both good and 
evil," become religions impressions. By thus securing 
the affections of children, we secure also their loving 
friendship ; we have in each of them, as they grow up, 
an ally instead of an enemy — a friend and companion 
whose instincts and tastes will grow together with our 
own, and who will be won by the wise conduct of the 
parent, first to himself, and then by natural sequence 
to his God and Father. For while character is ever 
more impressive than teaching, children are very quick 
to discover the imperfections of their superiors in age, 
and very soon to learn in them any breach of their 
own rule. It is much to be regretted, that these 
defects in social and domestic life are often so palpable 
on the part of religiously professing parents, that the 
young will form their friendships in any direction 
rather than on the parental hearth. Alas ! how com- 
mon is such a remark as the following, "I cannot 
speak to my father; he does not at all understand 
me or, " I cannot tell what I feel to my mother, 
for she has forgotten the time when she was young > 



PARENTAGE. 



25 



and makes no allowance for the heat, buoyancy, and 
mistakes of youth " 

In the case before us, how different ! As the dawn 
advances to the brightness of day, we shall find some 
hand that takes hold of his hand ; some heart that 
beats in unison with his own heart; lips that "whis- 
per" sentences of the deepest affection, as well as an 
ear to hear the first utterances of his own. 

Eustace Caiiey was born March 22nd, 1791, at 
Paulerspury, a small and pleasant village in North- 
amptonshire, which was celebrated only for its obscu- 
rity, until, in the middle of the last century, it became 
the birthplace of Di\ William Carey, the great Orien- 
tal scholar and missionary. Eustace was the son of 
Thomas and Mary Carey. Thomas Carey was the 
youngest son of Edmund Carey, and a brother of Dr. 
Carey above mentioned. 

Mr. Edmund Carey, the grandfather of Eustace, 
was an upright and j udicious man ; he was remarkable 
for his plain and good sense, and also for his kind- 
heartedness and generosity. He had five children, 
three sons and two daughters ; and, being the master 
of the Free School of the village, his children were 
instructed with his scholars in the usual branches of 
an English education. This education was considered 
very good in those days, and indeed it was so ; for 
through the diligence and success of the master, the 



26 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



good name to which he had attained and his father 
before him, his school became a sort of college, to 
which resorted daily for instruction farmers' and gen- 
tlemen's sons ; also ladies, to be taught writing by 
him, and needlework by his wife and daughter. Twice 
a week he might be seen walking to the neighbouring- 
town of Towcester, there to teach a ladies' school 
writing and arithmetic ; and in all the country no one 
sought more diligently to fulfil his daily duties, — 

" Something attempted, something done, — 
To earn his night's repose," — 

than Mr. Edmund Carey. The day-star from on high 
had not yet visited his dwelling with the full assur- 
ance of a gladsome hope; yet had he the charity 
which "seeketh not her own." A little girl in the 
village, who was suddenly deprived of both parents 
by death, and who was destitute of the means of sub- 
sistence, was taken by him into his house, placed 
amongst his own children, and provided with bed and 
board until fitted for some useful employment. To 
these good qualities must be added, his great hatred 
of deception, and also of vanity. To a slanderer who 
reported ill of a neighbour, his invariable reply was, 
" There are faults in us all." Faults he had, doubt- 
less ; but of these the writer is not advised by his 
survivors who bear his name, for " love covereth a 
multitude of sins." Of his* wife and mother also 
honourable mention must be made here. While the 



PARENTAGE. 



27 



former equalled her husband in his strict integrity 
and quick perception of right and wrong, she ex- 
celled him, if that were possible, in her high moral 
bearing, in her pure and refined benevolence. The 
latter, who had been left a widow in early life, and 
who resided with her son, was as distinguished for 
her meekness and gentleness as for her loving spirit, 
united with true refinement of manners ; she was a 
perfect lady in every sense of that word. Like 
Naomi and Ruth, these two lived together; and 
while their distinctive characteristics blended in 
sweetest harmony and beauty as then and there ex- 
hibited, they were an ornament to themselves and to 
the neighbourhood in which they dwelt.* As a vein 
of precious ore, these excellent qualities descended 
through other branches of the family, and will not 
fail to be recognised as the rich inheritance of him 
who has so lately disappeared from amongst us. 

Had the morning beams of gospel light and grace 
broken sooner on the minds of these honourable 
women, they might have attained before their gifted 
descendants to the faith of the mother and grand- 
mother of Timothy. But their name, notwithstand- 

* It was matter of deep regret to a daughter of Mrs. Edmund 
Carey that these traits, especially in her mother's and grand- 
mother's characters, were not mentioned by Mr. Eustace Carey 
when he published the life of her brother, Dr. Carey. A grand- 
daughter suggests, "that if published now, it will give her 
mother pleasure in heaven." 



28 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



ing that these virtues were so well sustained and 
exemplified by them, would have been forgotten, and 
would have lain low with their remains amongst the 
sods of their native village, had it not been for their 
children, and more especially for their eldest son Wil- 
liam, who for the possession of these high moral 
qualities makes a rich return ; and the converse of the 
apostle's text is applicable to him, " when I remember 
the unfeigned faith which dwelt first " in thee, and 
then in thy mother Elizabeth, and thy grandmother 
Ann. 

Thomas Carey, the father of Eustace Carey, was 
a non-commissioned officer in the army, and was with 
the Duke of York in one of our wars with Holland. 
He was there wounded in the knee, and on his return 
home was rewarded with a pension. He had three 
children — Edmund, who died in youth; Peter, who 
followed the profession of his father, and died in 
India ; and Eustace, the subject of this memoir. 

In that which may be justly termed the wondrous 
era of the rise of the first modern Missionary Society, 
at a time when Dr. Carey was little known and less 
understood, and society, at least in England with 
reference to missions to the heathen, was quite 
" without form and void/' Eustace Carey was born. 
Whether when the " Spirit of God moved on the face 
of these waters," under his supervening and all- 
powerful control, this child's future destiny was in- 



PARENTAGE. 



29 



fluenced or directed thereby, will probably be appa- 
rent in the sequel. Eustace was born either under 
the same roof with Dr. Carey, or in a house in 
contiguity to the one in which in childhood, in the 
school chamber, he spent his leisure hours ; where he 
placed his treasures collected from the world's great 
storehouse ; and where, amidst his insects and birds 
and flowers, he was first taught of God to know and 
to study himself, and to live for his glory and the 
good of his fellow-creatures. Not only the room, but 
also the garden which Dr. Carey had cultivated with 
so much care twenty years before, was familiar to this 
child's eye. He sat beneath the very trees where 
Dr. Carey had been in the habit of reading Captain 
Cook's Voyages, and all the scraps of foreign intelli- 
gence he could procure ; — where he so often pictured 
to himself the fearful Suttee and Infanticide of India, 
and the idolatry and cannibalism of the South Seas. 
As here was expressed the anguish of his soul, so 
fancy might place here some tree that told the tale of 
his sorrow, as the " Talking Oak ; " but with what a 
different story of heart-struggle, those best know who 
are most familiar with his life. But be this as it may, 
Eustace Carey was nursed up and nurtured too in the 
affectionate hearts of those who had derived, in great 
measure instrumentally, their religious warmth from 
the missionary altar there erected, which had received 
the sacrifice and the service of the faith of him who, 



so 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



in 1791, was "attempting great things for God, and 
expecting great things from God/' and who, two 
years after, departed for the distant East, never more 
to return to his native country. 

There are but few incidents which have reference 
to Mr. Carey's childhood. He was from infancy of very 
frail constitution ; and many fears were entertained 
by his parents of their not being able to rear him. 
He was, on this account, an object of great solicitude 
to them, and especially to his mother in her solitude, 
when her husband was far away on the battle-field. 
But the infant life was sustained, although languidly, 
and conducted onward by his hand who " opens 
springs in the valleys, and who giveth forth water 
out of the flinty rock." While Mrs. Carey and her 
fragile little son were left alone in their native vil- 
lage, the impression before alluded to was made on 
his mind. It is well observed, "the smallest thing 
becomes respectable when regarded as the commence- 
ment of what has advanced, or is advancing, into 
magnificence;"* the writer, therefore, offers no 
apology for introducing that which is so little in 
itself, but which exerted on him so considerable an 
influence. 

In the early grey of morning, before any objects 
were perceived by him, much less understood, there 
appeared in the boy's horizon a radiant figure, bright 

* Foster's Essays. 



PARENTAGE. 31 

with the light of the noonday sun. The grace and 
music of her step ; the love of her soul beaming 
through tender yet piercing eyes ; the play of her 
pleasant looks, which, in the child's esteem, would 
hnoio as well as be able to remove all his sorrows ; and, 
more than all, the melody of her voice ; these made 
an indelible impression upon him. Such was his 
mother. So tangible, so clearly defined, so attractive, 
so all-powerful through sixty long years of an earthly 
pilgrimage, w T as the memory of his mother. "My 
mother's footsteps, and my mother's voice as she 
sang her Wesley an hymns, I shall never forget ; they 
are as fresh on my mind as if I had heard them but 
yesterday." 

None like her, none ; 
Just now the dry-tongued laurel's pattering talk 
Seemed her bright foot about the garden walk, 
And shook my heart to think she comes once more ; 
But even then I heard her close the door, — 
The gates of heaven are closed, and she is gone." 

The figure vanishes, but not before the child-artist 
had drawn it with his own hand in imperishable 
tracery on his heart ; there it is to live as the ideal 
of his first good, until a reunion with the real in final 
triumph in the mansions of the blessed. As life 
advances, "as a dream when one awaketh," it is 
gone ; but the figure has ever a niche in the wall of 
salvation by the fountain of the water of life, to 
which he is led, instrumentally, by another female 



32 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

hand in after years, and where it is enshrined in all 

the beauty and grace of classic art. With one hand 

she welcomes her son to her embrace, and entwines 

around him the silken cable of love ; and with the 

other she rests on the anchor of hope at her side, 

while her eye directs him to that " anchor which is 

sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that 

within the vail." 

" love divine, how sweet thou art ! 
When shall I find my willing heart 

All taken up with thee ? 
I thirst, I faint, I die to prove 
The greatness of redeeming love, 

The love of Christ tome!" 

This hymn he heard over and over again, accompa- 
nied with the music of the soul, and with that also of 
a loving voice. 

He knew not love divine, but he knew his mother's 
love, which was to him in every sense divine love, and 
designed to be to him, as it has been to many others, 
the first stave in that ladder which conducts to ever- 
lasting life and glory. 

How many times, in youth and in advancing age, 
have the footsteps of his mother, in imagination, 
arrested and fixed his attention ! The music of her 
voice it was that first awoke the music of his own, and 
of the deeper and yet more thrilling melody of his 
heart. How often did his thought of these entrance 
him at the close of evening, when the gentle breeze 



PARENTAGE. 



33 



playing on the leaves at the open window seemed as 
¥ the footsteps of angels/' and the moonbeams glancing 
through them as the faint light coming from a longed- 
for, yet distant world, whither he was slowly on life's 
weary road, yet surely bending his steps ! 

"With a slow and noiseless footstep, 
Comes that messenger divine, 
Takes the vacant chair beside me, 
Lays her gentle hand in mine. 

" And she sits and gazes at me, 

With those deep and tender eves, 
Like the stars so still and saint-like, 
Looking downward from the skies. 

& # & * * 

" thou oft depressed and lonely, 
All my fears are laid aside, 
If I but remember only 

Such as these have lived and died." 

What mother in Great Britain would not wish to 
make an equally availing impression on the minds of 
her beloved children? 

" A second time to be a mother, 

Without the mother's bitter groans ; 
Another thought, and yet another, 

By touch, or taste, by looks or tones, 
O'er the growing sense to roll, 
The mother of your infant's soul" 

This mother's work was well done, for she had 
taught a life-long lesson, which fell upon a retentive 

D 



34 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ear and an obedient heart. She could afford to be 
laid aside as to the subsequent spiritual work in her 
son ; for she had now kindled in his soul, through the 
power of God's Spirit, the undying spark which was 
destined to glow with all but seraphic ardour on the 
continent of India; and which ardour inspired a 
tongue whose soft accents played on the ears of the 
Hindu, in the copious and beautiful strains of his native 
tongue, like the mellifluous minstrelsy of the flowing, 
distant waters, the sweet thrilling song of the woods 
in summer, or the touch of musical glasses by some 
light and magic wand. She with her own hand planted 
the seed of the kingdom in her son's mind, and with 
her cheerful footsteps she pressed it down into the 
very depths of the boy's affection. There it lay during 
the brief May-day of infant life, nurtured by her 
prayerful tears, and warmed by the sunny beams of a 
loving countenance, thence to fructify, to spring up, 
and to ripen into the mature and mellow fruit of an 
autumnal day ; and ere the hollow blast of a wintry 
wind passes by to threaten its continuous hold on the 
tree, it is loosened by the gentle breeze, touched, let 
fall, and taken into the hand by angelic ministry; 
then borne hence into that "house not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens." 

Had Mr. Carey told on the missionary platform, 
and spoken in an English audience of that which " this 
heart hath felt of a mother's love," as, when describing 



PARENTAGE. 



35 



scenes in India, the audience has been hushed to a 
breathless stillness by the sentence — " what these eyes 
have seen of the abominations of idolatry on the con- 
tinent of India/'* his speech would have distilled cc as 
the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, 
and as the showers that water the earth." His 
words would have penetrated the heart of every 
one in the assembly, while his graphic and most 
thrilling description of this part of his childhood would 
have broken up the depths in every mother's heart. 
But on this topic he never ventured, nor could he 
have trusted himself to do so. The above sentence 
was only uttered twice in the hearing of the writer, 
and then it was in privacy, and accompanied with the 
most distressing emotion. Tears, like rain, then 
flowed in a copious shower ; and, although so short, 
speech became indistinct ere the sentence was fully 
expressed. May the reader and writer fully enter 
into the above relation, if not "with sympathy of 
tears/' yet into that which has reference to the source 
and centre of all true love which is given to us " in 
thoughts that breathe and words that burn/' respect- 
ing Christ and his salvation — the height, and length, 
and breadth, and depth of that love of his which 
passeth knowledge — that we may be filled with all 
the fulness of God. Then will our sympathy find 



See Missionary speeches, 
B 2 



36 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

expression in the closing lines of the favourite 
hymn — 

" that I could for ever sit 
With Mary at the Master's feet ! 

Be this my happy choice ; 
My only care, delight, and bliss, 
My joy, my heaven on earth be this, 

To hear the bridegroom's voice." 

To the subject of this memoir these lines were 
at all times as Jacob's ladder, on which the angels 
of God ascended and descended ; and in the next 
illumined page of his history we shall find him 
making his first utterance, and then confessing- with 
the newly converted patriarch, " Surely the Lord 
was in this place and I knew it not ; this is none 
other than the house of God, and this the gate of 
heaven/' 



CHAP. III. 



REMOVAL TO NORTHAMPTON — BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS 
AUNTS — MRS. M. CAREY'S INSTRUCTION AND COR- 
RESPONDENCE. 

fC Gently the greyness of the dawn decays, 
And ruddy streaks of gold begin to tinge 
The fleeces of the clouds ; till now the East 
Varies her aspect, lost her quiv'ring light 
In a bright, ardent, boundless flood of day." 

The days of infancy have now passed away as a day- 
dream or a vision of the night, but not so the mental 
day r which issued from them ; it rose, as suggested in 
the above lines, clear, bright, lustrous ; and as it was 
a day whose sun on the subject of this memoir never 
set, so it was a day without clouds, " having the 
body of heaven in its clearness." 

If thus early Mr. Carey were cc a plant in the house 
of the Lord," then was his impression from the in- 
fluence of his mother the first fair growth ; it is now 
to search for successive growths and for blossoms 
which shall bear fruit to the glory of God. If the 
staple of love has been fixed in the rock Truth by her 
instrumentality, it is now to find the first link in the 
golden chain of divine guidance which lengthens 
onward in advancement of his steps, on which the 



38 MEMOIB OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

hand lays hold, and which fails not to light and 
conduct him through all the mazes and labyrinths of 
time to the pearly gates of immortality and glory. 

The only thing which broke in on the later years 
of childhood which was vividly impressed on Mr. 
Carey's mind, was the return home of his father 
from scenes of military engagement. The very sight 
of him used to fill the boy with admiration of his 
profession, and even as a child he longed for the time 
when he, too, should become a soldier. The account 
which his father gave of the battle-field in Holland was 
clearly depicted on his memory; that such was the 
fearful carnage on leaving the terrible scene of the 
engagement, the soldiers walked through pools of 
human blood. 

Thomas Carey, Eustace's father, was not like his 
brother William, little of stature. He was tall and 
portly ; he had a beautiful voice, and could sing 
well; and besides these, his general bearing carried 
with it an air of authority. No wonder that such 
exterior attractions should find their way into the 
heart of his little son. Although so fragile and half 
alive, yet was the feebleness of his body no criterion 
for the state of his mind. There seems even now to 
have been awakened in him a measure of courage 
beyond his years. Of this mental endowment, so 
much needed by all in the performance of the 
pressing duties of life, we shall find him hereafter 



HIS EARLY COURAGE. 



abundantly possessed. Great zeal and admiration 
were also very early evinced by him for the military 
profession. He is not long in ascertaining the fact 
that he is one of the lords of the creation; and, 
feeble as his body now is, he means to act out his 
part manfully, if we have but patience to wait for 
him. But that red coat — ! Never was anything so 
beautiful as that. He crept up his father's knees 
and tried to wind a bit of this fine colour about his 
own neck. " Oh, how beautiful !" There were the 
steps of his mother, her voice too ! Yes, these 
were there at Paulerspury ; but now, even at Paulers- 
pury, where were the "talking trees/' and the school- 
chamber where courage of another kind was first 
awakened, there is now this red coat ! Why, it sank 
down into his young heart, under the sun-beams of 
his mother's influence as a strong colour would sink 
into snow warmed by the rays of the morning sun. 
But it left a space unoccupied in the earnest inten- 
tion and longing of the child's heart which was not 
to be easily filled. "We shall see what becomes of this 
hereafter. 

But the Wesleyan hymns and the red coat ! Strange 
things to put together. They grew together, they 
were not put together ; and they were the right sort 
of things, nevertheless, as many of our brave soldiers 
have recently found on the battle-field, to their joy 
and consolation, both in life and in death. If a man 



40 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

must be a soldier, let him have as much religion as he 
can cany with him, for he will need it all. Who 
that reads the thrilling details of our late Crimean 
war, and more especially those given in the life of 
Hedly Vicars, would wish that he had known less of 
hymns; in other words, had had less religion? What 
a noble example his who " forsook not his colours" in 
any society ! 

Amidst all the desolation of that war, as an angel 
of mercy he went to the living and the dying ; and 
sustained by his words of kindness and of love 
the hearts of his companions, who, like himself, were 
appointed to die. As that of a noble confessor his 
name will remain on the pages of our history. Were 
all Christians like him ! — 

But what did Mr. Thomas Carey ask his little son 
when about seven or eight years old? That which 
most parents ask their children quite soon enough. 

"And you, little boy, what will you be?" 

"Why, a soldier to be sure." 

" But can you fight ?" 

" Fight ! why, I don't know ; but I am sure I will 
be a soldier." 

A right and good answer. Who could tell so 
early in life whether they could fight ? But to be a 
soldier, — that thou shalt be, thou brave Jad; and 
thou shalt bear the standard of the cross before one 
of the tribes of the children of Israel ! 



VISITS TO COTTISBROOK. 



41 



Mrs. Carey removed from Pury to Northampton 
during the childhood of her son. This change, 
from a pleasant country village to a confined market 
town, was not the most suitable to him in his 
weak state of health; and all that was fragile 
and unsustained before still remained with him 
and increased in this place. Indeed it was feared 
by some relations, who still remember his spare, frail 
appearance, that in Northampton he would soon find 
his grave. But it was so arranged by a wise and 
gracious Providence that this change, so seemingly 
unpropitious to him, should be productive of the 
greatest good, and hence is placed before the reader 
the next page of his early history. 

About eight miles from Northampton is the pretty 
village of Cottisbrook, which, as its name imports, 
contains pasture land for sheep, also a brook which 
flows through its green and pleasant valley. Three 
miles from Cottisbrook lies Naseby field, where the 
famous battle was fought bearing that name, in the 
time of the Parliamentary wars. If traditional 
report be correct, it was then, as in the time of which 
we are writing, remarkable for its flocks of sheep; 
for Cromwell's soldiers are said freely to have availed 
themselves of the use of these, and also of the brook 
and pond attaching thereto. But the brook, on that 
celebrated day, went on as aforetime, regarding only its 
own social chatter, and attuning its playful ripple as 



42 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

best suited to the charge which it took of the waking 
or sleeping flowers on its margin. The shout of the 
battle or of victory arrested it not, neither does it 
record or intimate in any one aspect this grand 
event. Thus do nature's works go on irrespective of, 
and uninfluenced by man's works; for could they 
affect these as they do the moral and social institu- 
tions of our world, a fruitful land would often be 
turned into barrenness, and man's life, so dependent 
on its products, would present nothing but a gloomy 
tragedy. Happily the surface of this fair earth is not 
destined to record in perpetuity the desolating ravages 
of war, nor deeds of slaughter, whether in a righteous 
or an unrighteous cause. Succeeding generations 
may congratulate themselves that the record of our 
nation's bravery and conquest lies on the page of 
history alone. 

In this village of Cottisbrook, whose name is light- 
some and musical, there resided two aunts of the 
subject of this memoir. They were the daughters of 
Mr. Edmund Carey, of Paulerspury, and the sisters of 
Dr. Carey, who are so often mentioned in his Life. 

As Mr. Carey's early intimacy with these relatives 
issued in most important results, and probably 
affected the whole character and direction of his life, 
no apology is offered to the reader for the brief his- 
tory of them which follows. 

The elder of these aunts was Mrs. Hobson, formerly 



VISITS TO COTTISBROOK. 43 

Ann Carey. She was the generous hostess of the 
social board at Cottisbrook, at which her nephew 
Eustace now becomes so frequent and so welcome a 
guest. Mrs. Hobson was the mother of a very large 
family. She and her husband rented a small grazing 
farm under a baronet then residing in the village, 
and who was the proprietor of all the land in the 
parish. Mr. and Mrs. Hobson having so many 
children to provide for were pressed with many diffi- 
culties from day to day. The world was a rough 
world to them, as it has been to thousands of others, 
and more especially after they had turned their backs 
upon its maxims and practices, and had learned the 
excellence of Christ's religion. 

Mr. Hobson had been brought up a Churchman, 
and for many years he continued his attendance on 
the Established worship, and adherence to its ritual. 
When, however, he was awakened by the Spirit of 
God to a sense of his need of the pardoning and sanc- 
tifying grace of Christ, and of his lost condition as a 
sinner without this renewing process on his soul, he 
took it very much to heart that his Church had 
failed to do that which it had promised, both in its 
baptism, in the daily service and catechism, also in 
confirmation, to do. Indeed, he found it had not 
merely promised him regeneration, it had assured him 
that he was already regenerated, and he naturally 
thought that the effects of such renewing process 



44 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

would evolve themselves in mature life. But, alas ! 
he found that he was not only not right — not " a 
child of God/' neither an inheritor nor possessor "of 
the kingdom of heaven/' but that he was still in the 
gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity, — " tied 
and bound with the chain of his sins/' He therefore 
left the Church in great sadness, if not in dudgeon, 
and sought the means of grace elsewhere, which, as 
he hoped, would better effectuate in his heart and life 
the high purpose which he now so earnestly pursued. 
This decision on his part, also that already formed by 
his non-conforming wife and sister, led them all to 
seek as Christians to promote amongst, themselves 
and their neighbours those principles of divine truth 
of which they now found themselves the possessors. 

This attempt on their part, while at the same time 
they absented themselves from church, brought down 
upon them the most bitter persecution of the baronet. 
At this time there was no gleam of light whatever in 
the church except that which was gained from the 
reading of the Scriptures ; and they felt that they 
should be unfaithful to their conscientious convictions 
of duty if they, for the sake of keeping their farm, 
attended upon the mere forms of religion where its 
spirit was so entirely absent. They therefore met for 
worship in their own house, invited their neighbours 
to unite with them, and had a minister to preach to 
them the "Word of Life as often as they could obtain 



VISITS TO COTTISBROOK. 



45 



one. As soon as the baronet learned that his little 
farm was let to such strange, outlandish people, who 
were so unreasonable as not to be satisfied with 
things as they found them, — that, in fact, some of 
those u who turned the world upside-down had come 
hither also," — he was determined to expel them, 
and expel them he did, although they had a lease of 
the farm. Well might Mrs. M. Carey write to her 
brother, " this place is walled up to heaven against 
the Gospel." When remonstrated with, the baronet's 
reply was, " I do what I do not allow." It is, how- 
ever, but justice to his memory to record that he was 
afterwards visited with compunction, and presented 
some little pecuniary compensation for the injury 
which he felt they had sustained through him. Dr. 
Carey writes to his father respecting Cottisbrook — 
" I greatly commend my dear sister Ann for not sur- 
rendering up her conscience for a petty lot of land. I 
think she will be better without it." 

Mrs. Hobson's heart was deeply imbued with the love 
of Christ. She and her sister had been taught almost all 
that they knew of religion by their honoured brother. 
They were both — their parents also — the fruit of Dr. 
Carey's prayers and labours before he left this country 
for India. As this history advances the reader will 
not fail to be reminded again and again of the parable 
of the grain of mustard-seed, for in such manner as 
it intimates did the Word of the Lord grow and mul~ 



46 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



tiply, as ministered at home by this his servant. Mrs. 
Hobson was, moreover, the most kind-hearted of 
persons ; and although she had a family of her own, 
and early in life was deprived of her husband by 
sudden death, she was never more pleased than when 
she had others at the table with them ; and whether 
her board afforded cc the stalled ox w or " the dinner 
of herbs," there was always love present at the meal ; 
and the God of love, whom she trusted, and whom 
she cheerfully served, gave her in rich abundance his 
peace and presence. She not only, by her own in- 
dustry chiefly, brought up her children honourably 
and usefully, but she found it possible to confer both 
time and labour on the Church and cause of Jesus 
Christ wherever she resided. She was a remarkable 
woman for her energy and perseverance in duty. At 
Boxmoor, where she last resided, her house was again 
as a city set on a hill, — a light in the midst of dark- 
ness; and it was mainly through her benevolent 
efforts that the commodious chapel was erected there 
which continues to this day to hail home to their 
Saviour lost and perishing souls through the faithful 
preaching of his word. 

Miss Carey, or as she was generally called, Mrs. 
Mary Carey, resided with her sister, Mrs. Hobson. 
She was the family correspondent of Dr. Carey, from 
the time that he was apprenticed at Hackleton when 
fourteen years of age to the end of his life, including 



VISITS TO COTTISBROOK. 47 

a period of sixty years. Her brother William in his 
correspondence always called her Polly. This was 
her home name for many years. It was this sister 
of Dr. Carey who, when he became apprenticed, took 
the charge of his live birds, and killed so many of 
them with kindness. She used to tell often in 
after years, how much she watched the behaviour 
of her brother when he came home from Hackleton. 
When she heard him converse about the necessity of 
a change of heart, and more especially when he 
burned the playing cards, Polly was heard often to 
say, (C righteous over much." But when her brother 
gained the consent of his father to conduct family 
worship at home, and used this expression in his 
prayer, " All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags," 
Polly was quite indignant to think that her goodness 
and that of her parents should be described by her 
brother in such, to her, disagreeable terms. That 
Iter righteousness was such she never would believe ; 
neither would she take her brother's estimate of it. 
She often referred, in after years, to the thoughts 
which passed through her mind at the time of this 
prayer, and how earnestly she sought afterwards to 
recall to herself what she had done to offend her 
brother. The poor birds now came before her view, 
but as she had not killed them designedly, and re- 
membering no other fault, she said to herself, H Why 
should he say my righteousness is as filthy rags?" 



48 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



But in her case, as well as that of her sister and 
parents, his prayers were answered; and after passing 
through much mental conflict she was brought, by 
the grace of God, to peace and joy in believing. 
During her state of depression, when she found the 
gate strait and the way narrow that leacleth unto life, 
he writes to her : — ce Tell Polly all I can say to her 
is this — a sinner on this side hell will have reason 
to despond when the blood of Christ has lost its 
efficacy, when the nature of God is changed, and he 
ceases to be good and gracious, or when the Gospel is 
powerless, and all its glorious declarations obliterated. 
Then, and not till then, may my dear sister have 
reason to despair. Abhor herself she ought, and 
ought to be sensible in the most exquisite degree of 
her rebellion and depravity; but till her sins are 
greater than God can forgive, or surpass the value of 
her Saviour's Hood, she may hope ; nay, if she her- 
self had chosen in what way God should have ex- 
pressed his willingness to save, she could not 
have chosen language more explicit, nor decla- 
rations more unlimited. Here is a ground of 
hope, and here all is solid rock. Not only a 
ground of hope for heaven, but a cleansing away 
of sin every day. My relations are often on my 
heart. Oh, that I may meet them with joy before 
the throne of God/' 

Truly did his heart rejoice when informed that his 



BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS AUNTS. 



49 



sisters were about to join the church at Tow- 
cester. 

"1 sincerely rejoice at my sisters joining the 
church, and pray that they may both be orna- 
ments to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
The profession of the religion of Jesus may be im- 
paired and injured by them who make a boast of 
his holy name. But my dear sisters will remember 
that now they have engaged in the most solemn 
manner to serve the Lord alone, and that before 
many witnesses. To apostatise after such a pro- 
fession, or but slacldy to pursue the commands 
of God, is a tacit acknowledgment to the whole 
world, that after an important trial of religion 
and the customs of the world, you have found the 
world to deserve the preference, or that religion 
deserved but a very slight attention. Remember 
the declaration of God's word, 'the slothful eateth 
and hath nothing/ and that not he who barely 
sets out, but he that enclureth to the end shall be 
saved. 

u I do not write these things to discourage you, 
but to show the great importance of the undertaking; 
for, on the other hand, you have an All-sufficient 
Saviour, one in whom it hath pleased the Father 
that all fulness should dwell, and who gives liberally 
to all. What an encouragement to earnest, diligent 
prayer ! May all my dear relations live from day to 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



day on this glorious Saviour, whose words are spirit, 
and they are life." 

When a young girl, at Pury, Mrs. M. Carey was i 
remarkable for her good health and great vivacity ; but 
at the time her nephew Eustace first visited Cottis- \ 
brook she had been afflicted for some years. She could \ 
speak only in a whisper ; was, moreover, at this time 
quite lame; and the only thing she could do to J 
employ herself and to change the monotony of her j 
life was that of instructing the children of her sister 
in reading and Scripture knowledge. As God had, 
in his inscrutable providence, made her an example of I 
suffering affliction, so was she through his grace, one I 
of patience also, and of most extraordinary placid J 
demeanour and devoutness. It was of her that Mr. 
Carey said, in his Life of Dr. Carey, " she has been 
confined to her chamber, without exception of a day, 
these forty years; nearly the whole of that period ! 
she has been speechless, and the hand with which she : 
writes is the only limb she can use."' 5 *' 

If it be true that "the best earthly joys which are 
withholden are as grains of gold snatched by a 
descending angel from life's swift and troubled river," 
then what a rich treasure was laid up in heaven for j 
this afflicted saint ! How many thousands of persons 
there are who pass through the whole of life's I 



* Page 22. 1836. 



BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS AUNTS. 



51 



changes to the very precincts of the grave without 
a single deprivation of a painful kind, much less the 
complication of this distressing case. But even in 
such an instance as this, in which God's u way is in 
the sea, and his path in the deep waters, and his 
footsteps are not known/' there seems yet to be a 
dark intimation given to us, that as some individuals 
of the human race are placed by themselves as pillars 
on the sea-borne coast of time ; as monuments there 
of human greatness, through whom the rest of the 
race learn the vanity of earthly glory, (like cc Solomon 
who made silver in Jerusalem to be as stones, and yet 
thereafter was less rich toward God ?') so there may 
be some other individuals of that race, through whom 
exhibitions are made of the vast amount of sorrow 
which may be borne by human nature without 
exhausting its capability of endurance; and of its 
effects, when sanctified, of wearing down the angles 
and easing for others the rocky ascent of life's heavy 
road. Such individuals also become media, through 
whom mankind may learn most emphatically that (£ a 
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the 
things which he possesseth; that man shall not live 
by bread alone, but by every word of God." Besides, 
may not such exhibitions of the divine arrangements 
" incite our wavering desires after the One Good, that 
is God, and convince us, that in the unclouded ex- 
* perience of his everlasting favour there is a bliss 

E 2 



52 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



which infinitely outweighs all joys of finite affec- 
tion ?"* 

She endeared herself by her Christian example and 
affectionate deportment to all who knew her. She 
had had the privilege of her brother's instruction as 
well as correspondence ; so that she was w^ell versed in 
Scripture knowledge, and was able to teach those 
truths of the Word of Life which she had so often 
iC handled and tasted" for herself. Both herself and 
Mrs. Hobson were very fond of children ; here, there- 
fore, their nephew Eustace was a very frequent 
visitor. Indeed, this house was a second home to 
him, where he found all his lost country pleasures, 
and some over and above those which he had ever 
enjoyed before. To a child from a confined town it 
was natural that one of his greatest attractions, and 
that which occasioned most surprise, was the wonder- 
ful sight which his aunt's dairy presented. When 
first seeing the large pans of new milk, and receiving 
his good-tempered aunt's welcome in the words, " and 
you may have as much as you wish," his astonish- 
ment was great, and his delight also. Could it really 
be true that he had found a land flowing with milk 
and honey, and what was equal to it, loving hearts to 
give him at all times a cheerful welcome? 

u Aunt, may I really have as much milk as I like ?" 

" Yes, my dear, to be sure you may," was the 
* Shepherd's Christian Encouragement, p. 189, 



BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS AUNTS. 



53 



hearty reply. What an abundance of true pleasure 
fell to his lot now ! Here were the milk, the sheep, 
the cows, — the fields, the pond, the brook. He and 
his cousins knew in early days that sound to which 
our poet so beautifully alludes, as a part of his own 
enjoyment in maturer years, in company with his 
lamented friend, 

" When, brushing ankle-deep in flowers, 
We heard behind the woodbine veil 
The milk that bubbled in the pail, 
And buzzing of the honied houses. 5 '* 

The exhilaration of spirits on a summer's morning, 
arising from the delicious pleasures of sight and 
touch, of scent and sound, is known only to those 
who are familiar with the charms of the country. 
The real luxuries of country life, boys, above all other 
human beings, seem to be capable of enjoying and 
of using to the greatest advantage. But the red 
coat, is it in existence now ? Yes, surely, it is a big 
idea in the child's mind; for something to do he 
means to have in this great world of ours, as well as 
something to enjoy. 

These visits to Cottisbrook, the good milk and 
plenty of it, his most enthusiastic persecution of the 
fish in the brook and pond during the summer months, 
with many other rustic pursuits, were the means of 
establishing his health in a degree in which he had 

* Tennyson. 



54 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



never before enjoyed it. As he was the youngest of 
the brothers, in delicate health, his father far away 
on the battle-field, he now became in great part the 
care of the two kind aunts, especially of Mrs. Mary 
Carey, who in her first mention of him in her diary 
wrote, "this same shall comfort us." This predic- 
tion of hers was literally fulfilled in after years, 
when, through advancing age and altered circum- 
stances, these servants of Christ needed his kind aid 
and sympathy. At the time of which we are writing 
they were two, not only kind, but extraordinary 
aunts. They were not to their young relative good 
and awhvard at the same time, as some aunts, espe- 
cially unmarried ones, are ; they were only good, and 
more like angels in his esteem than aunts. 

This was often gratefully referred to by Mr. Carey 
in after life; also the hearty manner in which 
juvenile sports and amusements were entered into by 
them, all sorts of allowance being made for accidents 
with clothes and late return to the midday meal. 
How many times at Cottisbrook has the fishing 
beguiled the hours of the live-long day, while the fish, 
as if they would not be caught, eluded all the skill 
and vigilance of the young angler. If the excuse 
were apparently sincere, r< Aunt, the fish would not 
come;" and the wish in persevering so long in 
attempting to obtain them was known to be that 
of procuring some for the afflicted aunt, all was 



BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS AUNTS. 



55 



soon right, As there were no clouds of anger on the 
kind aunt's brow, there were no showers of tears from 
the child's eyes to succeed them. 

While the moral delinquencies of children were 
here ever sharply rebuked, yet how readily were 
excuses formed for their failings and infirmities. 
Thus did they contribute their best effort to wake the 
sunlight of childhood, which is at best but as that of 
an April day, alternate in warmth as well as brightness, 
with its cloud and rain. A hundred juvenile faults 
were viewed at Cottisbrook as venial, and hence the 
heart's best affections were thrown for life around 
these worthy relations. The writer feels that too 
conspicuous a place cannot be given to such valued 
and effective kindness as that received from them by 
Mr. Carey in his early history; nor to the charm 
which the scenery of Cottisbrook presented to him. 
The reader must endeavour to realize the lingering 
look which memory often cast back on its pleasant 
meadows, decked with buttercups and daisies, which 
emitted light and blended in harmony with "the 
livelier emerald, which twinkled in the grass/' and 
chiefly on 

" The brook that loves 
To purl o'er matted cress and ribbed sand 

Or on 

" The thick-fleeced sheep from wattled-fold, 
What time the amber morn 
Eorth gushes from beneath alow hung cloud." 



56 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



There was u music without notes" through the 
pleasant influences of soft winds and ringing stream- 
lets ; and here the shady couch of the violet, and the 
covert of the well- wooded copse ; and even that which 
might have been deemed by some coarse and common- 
place, was to this child as the honey out of the rock, 
and the meat, in whose strength he went many days. 
His health required that he should be much in the 
open air, and here was his table spread ; here was a 
home and a hearth where he was always welcome as 
a son and a brother. As all the milk might be his if 
he needed it, so all other things were his, as far as he 
could use them ; and, what was best of all, loving 
hearts were his. There it was, in the busy, noisy 
home at Cottisbrook, that his delicate frame became 
strengthened, and that he was raised from the very 
brink of the grave to health, which gave proof of 
future active life and usefulness. 

But there was another circumstance more lasting 
than the good health connected with these pleasant 
visits to Cottisbrook. Here not only were those early 
habits of boyhood formed which generally have so 
great an influence in fixing the character of the after 
life, but here it was, in his early years, he was led to 
hear his Saviour's voice, in whispers of love and tender 
kindness. Before this circumstance is given in detail, 
it is needful somewhat more minutely to describe the 
tried history and character of that member of the 



mrs. m. carey's instruction, etc. 



57 



Cottlsbrook family, who was the means of effectuating 
so much good in the mind of her young nephew, 
Eustace Carey. This incident is as follows : — 

During her residence at Cottisbrook, Mrs. M. Carey 
could walk with the help of a crutch, and could also 
speak in a whisper, or low voice. Some of the children 
slept in a double-bedded room, their cousin, Eustace, 
also with them. To this room Mrs. M. Carey's 
own sleeping apartment was attached. It was her 
custom every evening to go into the children's room 
on her way to her own, and just as they were going 
to bed relate to them some Scripture story, and 
commit them for the night to the care and keeping 
of God in prayer. " Poor auntV Scripture stories, 
and the fascinating manner in which she told them, 
were always eloquent enough both in thought and 
feeling as well as subject matter, if not in tone, to 
keep her sleepy audience awake, or after the employ- 
ment of the day to invite to an earlier retirement to 
bed. In giving these simple, but instructive lessons, 
it was that the hearts of two of the children wera 
(C opened by the Lord to attend to the things" which 
she spake; and while aiming only to glorify her 
Saviour in commending his truth to the tender heart 
and conscience, she assumed, without designing it, 
the character of preceptress in divine things to her 
young nephew. Here and in the adjoining room it 
was, when quite a boy, he heard " the first whispers 



58 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



of grace from her lips/' and here were also the first 
utterances of his own. It is remembered by a 
relative, that in Mr. Carey's first letter from India, 
addressed to his aunts (the letter is unhappily lost), 
there were the following sentences : — cc It was always 
with delight I left Northampton on my way to 
Cottisbrook, for there I was received with pleasant 
looks, and with as much as the times would allow 
and the house would afford." After alluding to Mrs. 
M. Carey's Bible, and the object of interest that it 
was to him as the first in which he had read the 
lively oracles of God with delight and understanding, 
there was also this sentence : C£ Here it was that my 
ear became opened to hear the first wdiispers of grace 
from her lips." 

Thus in the dewy dawn of his intelligence is his 
heart renewed through the grace and sanctifying 
influence of the divine spirit; and now he cries to 
God, u My Father, thou shalt be the guide of my 
youth." The delight which this circumstance gave to 
his kind instructress will be fully described in her own 
words in the next chapter. To her, as well as to his 
mother, it must have been matter of devout con- 
gratulation to see one so young the subject of divine 
grace ; and while with hope mingled with fear they 
watched his spiritual progress, to perceive that it was 
one calm, consistent, unwavering purpose on his part. 
From boyhood he passes on to youth before he makes 



MRS. M. CAREY'S INSTRUCTION, ETC. 59 



known to any one the secret purpose of his heart; 
but according to his own confession, in the letter 
before referred to, the race was now commenced, and 
" the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in 
Christ Jesus" was definitively before the eye of the 
mind through faith. Events in the onward history 
must not be anticipated. Suffice it to remark here, 
that the race is steadily pursued; and while it w T ill 
happily be not the task of the writer to record here- 
after grievous backsliding of heart or life, so neither 
will it be to present those perplexing and painful 
exercises of the mind in youth which lead so often 
through the vicissitudes of doubt to confirmed un- 
belief. In proportion to the attainment of know- 
ledge, whether secular or divine, there is apparent 
also a growth of the best affections of the heart, and 
the enlisting on the side of God and his revealed 
truth as contained in the Bible, the most ardent and 
devout sympathy of his entire nature. 

"While the reader will learn from the pen of Mrs. M. 
Carey, in the next chapter, the difficulty which he 
had in making known to even her the religious 
exercises of his mind, he will learn also the excellence 
of the training under which God had placed him. 
Skilled in handling the sword of the Spirit, she knew 
not how to present either doubt or fear to the young 
disciple. Like her divine Master she clearly taught, 
" this is the work of God, to believe in him whom he 



60 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



hath sent f not to quibble and question, and to satisfy 
what are called the demands of reason firsts as is so 
often the natural result of teaching in the present 
day. And as doubting was no part of that divine 
science which she taught, but on the contrary, she ever 
pressed home on his conscience the undeniable and 
urgent claims which the Great Creator has on the youth- 
ful heart; so its absence 'becomes a remarkable feature 
in his own experience and teaching in after life. This 
habit of his mind commenced thus early; he had 
faith in God, and it was firm and unwavering. When 
in after years opportunities were given him, by his 
educational advantages and acquirements, for critically 
examining the basis of his faith, he was as firm as a 
rock; exhibiting the truth of the Lord's words, "if 
any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine 
whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself." 
His entire complacency in the divine character had 
never a shadow cast upon it by one moment's doubt 
or distrust. A deep stream of devotion and reverence 
for God flowed through his soul ; and it has seemed 
to the writer as if all his religious views and feelings 
were gathered up into a focus and thrown in one 
stream of unbroken rays of heat and light on the 
object of his supreme devout faith. This feature will 
be more conspicuous in the after pages of his life; 
but it may be properly introduced here for the purpose 
of showing the value of a sound scriptural education 



MRS. M. CAREY'S INSTRUCTION. ETC. 61 



hi early youth, and the effect which such an education 
is designed to produce on the mind, especially when 
presented by a person who ardently and practically 
believes in the leading doctrines of the gospel. 

The reader will be able to form some idea of the 
earnestness with which Mrs. Carey sought the salva- 
tion of her children, as she called those of her sister 
and brothers, from the following brief correspondence 
with one of them, with which the present chapter 
will be closed. These letters appear in this place not 
only to show how capable she w^as of giving instruc- 
tion, but to exhibit the manner in which she emu- 
lated the divine example of her Saviour, in her 
attempts to seek the lost and restore the wandering. 
How often does it happen in Christian Churches, that 
if the young turn aside, as she calls it, into " Bye-path 
Meadow," the older members of the Church become 
shy and cold in their manner toward the erring soul. 
How often, moreover, does the very opposition which, 
is made to those who are caught in the net of the 
great adversary, instead of proving a remedy, become 
a powerful ally of the evil. And in cases where 
there may not be strenuous opposition there is an 
altered manner ; a shyness and coldness on the part 
of Church members, which tend more firmly than 
anything else to rivet the error and to drive the soul 
further from God. The writer has seen this occa- 
sionally carried out in hastily cutting off persons 



62 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



from the fellowship of the Church, and then abandon- 
ing thern to Satan, not, it is feared, " for the destruc- 
tion of the flesh'' only. Surely it is the Church's 
business to seek to follow the high authority given 
us in 2 Cor. ii., and to restore such an one in the 
spirit of meekness ; considering thyself) lest thou also 
be tempted/' 

This sort of treatment was a great discouragement to 
Dr. Carey when quite a youth at Hackleton. His mind 
being set on getting as much instruction as he could, 
he occasionally conversed with, a man of whom it had 
been reported that he held some peculiar sentiments. 
" Some old Christians in the village where I lived had 
frequently taken me by the hand, and communicated 
their own experience and feelings to me, which had 
much encouraged me. But after I had conversed 
with this man once or twice, and they knew that I 
read books which he lent me, all began to suspect 
that I leaned to erroneous opinions, and for a long 
time said but little to me." 

In the case of a moral as well as theoretical de- 
parture, how seldom is that spirit evinced on the 
part of members of Churches which love to Christ 
and to souls would seem to dictate. Should such a 
falling, erring " brother be swallowed up with over- 
much sorrow" through the want of a timely admi- 
nistration of comfort, much sin will be laid at their 
door for neglect of so obvious a duty. Were the 



MRS. M. CAREY'S INSTRUCTION, ETC. 



63 



lesson more frequently impressed, "let him that 
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall f — <c Thou 
standest by faith ; be not high- minded, but fear/ ; 
we should more frequently have the backslider re- 
claimed, and evil arrested in its early progress. 
Some professing Christians hold this as a part of 
their creed, not only to dislike the evil, but to dis- 
like the person also. To a nephew, Mrs. M. Carey 
writes : — 

u My dear little A , I hope, will not forget 

me quite. I hope I do rejoice and pray for her 
that she may follow on to know the Lord, even 
to the end, live to prove a comfort to her dear father 
and you, and an otoner of that meek and quiet spirit 
which is in the sight of God and of all good people 
of great price. The more we try to cultivate it the 
happier we shall feel in our own minds; for by trying 
to make happy we have a present reward in feeling 
happy. May we grow in conformity to that blessed 
grace both in youth and age. I hope we shall soon 
hear and see the blessed effects of the Gospel take 
place, and the lion and the lamb feeding together, 
and a child-like disposition pervading all. Well, 
God is able, and he is as able as he is willing ; let us 
be more earnest. Some one says, though I do not 
know who, if the evils that afflict man are to be re- 
moved when the Gospel shall indeed cover the earth, 
how earnest should we be, who have, we hope, felt its 



64 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



saving power, to spread abroad its healing power ; to 
spread abroad His mighty name. I saw and felt 
pleased in reading those lines.* God has done much 
for us, and I feel and hope we shall yet have more 
sacrifices to make to so good a Lord. 

" I shall feel happy to hear you have returned from 
' Bye-path Meadow/ It is a dangerous place to enter, 
and every step will increase the danger. I must say 
we have felt much for you. You did run well, what 
has hindered you ? Did you find that dear Saviour 
who could lay down his life for us while we were 
sinners and enemies to him ; did you find him a hard 
master, he who gave his soul up to the stroke without 
a murmuring word, and died that we might live? 

Oh, my dear , may he not be wounded by us in 

the house of his professed friends ? I hope you may 
feel his look of love melt your heart as it did 
Peter's, and his precious word inviting you to look 
again towards his holy temple. How kind he speaks ! 
' Return, ye backsliding children/ Let us listen to his 
voice, for he still waits to be gracious. What should 
I do without just such a Saviour, — such a High 
Priest touched with a feeling of all my infirmities, 

and pardoning my sins ? We are too proud of , 

in the hope they were in early life walking in the 
truth as it is in Jesus. You were beloved for your 
own sake, and for your beloved parents' sake. Now, 
* Alluding to a passage in her own journal. 



MRS. M. CAREY'S CORRESPONDENCE. 65 



perhaps you may feel rather hurt if old friends may 
seem to forsake you, but let me beg of you not to 
I conclude too hastily. Never have I felt so much on 
I your behalf, and could I do anything to promote 
I either your happiness or your good it would give me 
; great pleasure. 

"Permit me before I see you to ask this one 
1 question, c What think ye of Christ V You can reply, 
: ( He is the chief of ten thousand/ May you be 
enabled to devote the prime of your life to the best of 
Saviours, and soon be led to show your obedience to 
all the commands of your Lord. I feel assured you 
; will never have cause to repent. I hope I have 
known the Lord for many years, and have long been 
called to prove his faithfulness and care. Never have 
I found it fail, although I am still so apt to distrust. 
I have long desired to recommend to children and 
children's children the service of such a master. Oh, 
may we all meet to spend a long eternity in pleasure 
^and in praise. Should we all meet, and should I 
amongst you stand, 

£ That blessed interview, how sweet 
To fall transported at his feet ; 
Raised to his arms to view his face 
Thro' the full beamings of his grace. 5 

God is a refuge suited to our youth and age, a present 
help in all our times of need. 



66 



MEMOIB OF EUSTACE CABEY. 



To tlie same. — " I hope I shall hear soon of your 
decision of character on the Lord's side, and your 
obedience to ail his commands. I do think it not only 
a duty, but a privilege, to be united with the Lord's 
people, Be much with God in prayer. ' Ask and ye 
shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened unto 
you.' "What can we desire more? The promise is 
adequate to any case ; persevere in asking, the pro- 
mise will never fail. Jesus is worthy of our love, 
and let him have your first and constant regard. 
Excuse my freedom, my dearest ; I have found that 
religion is alone able to sustain my own soul through 
the depths of adversity for many years, and that 
makes me feel the more anxious for you and all my 
dear children to devote the prime of their days to 
the service of so good a Lord." 

My dear . Some time since I felt happy 

to hear you had made a public profession of your 
adherence to the best of masters, by showing your 
obedience to his commands, but I have since heard I 

was mistaken. Yet, my dear the time is not 

far distant that I may have the pleasure renewed in a 
reality. I hope, I know you feel that religion is a 
personal concern, and that J esus is worthy your first 
and supreme regard. Halt not between two opinions, 
but own your supreme attachment to him whose love 



MRS. It CAREY'S CORRESPONDENCE. 



67 



lias been so great to you. Devote the prime of your 
days to him, who for our sakes could leave his throne 
of glory. What love to take our nature upon him, — - 
to die that we might live. I have not been worse 
than usual lately, but at the best life is truly painful; 
but there is this consideration, I hope I am in good 
hands ; I hope I do feel that in great faithfulness he 
has and does afflict, and to these I could more fully 
speak of his goodness, and of his power to save to the 
uttermost all that come unto God by Him, and that 
those who come to Him by faith and prayer He will 
never cast out/' 

To the same. — " I was delighted while reading — 

c Love is the sweetest bud that blows, 

Its beauty never dies, 
On earth among the saints it grows, 
And opens in the skies.' 

I did rejoice when Mr. Penney told me of your 

decision of character on the Lord's side, and of . 

I felt it quite to strengthen my faith and encourage 
my hope that these pledges may only be the begin- 
nings, and that all so dear to me may be amongst 
the happy number of those who feel the importance 
of early piety. May you walk worthy of God, and 
grow in grace, and never forget that your poor aunt 

greatly needs your prayers Of that blessing 

F 2 



68 



MEMOIB OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



my heavenly Father has not left me yet, and I trust 
will never leave me destitute of the pleasure of 
sympathising with my friends, although I have not 
felt the relief a tear gives to my own feelings since 
my voice quite left me in 1802. But I do count it 
amongst my mercies still that I am not wholly left 
without the desire to direct my dear friends, in all 
their times of need, to examine with the Psalmist, 
and interrogate their own hearts, and perhaps if we 
could adopt his plan we should say, c Why art thou 
cast down/ &c. Let us not give way to desponding 
thoughts. It brings to my mind a hymn dear Mr. 
Skinner once repeated to me, — 

e Lord, clidst thou die, but not for me, 
Am I forbid to trust thy blood ? 
Hast thou not pardon rich and free, 
And grace an OYenvhelnnng flood P 

We may go again and again, and shall still find the 
way open, or what could I do ? But it is free, un- 
bounded mercy \ it is by grace we are saved ; not of 
works lest any man should boast. If of the latter, I 
must after all sit down in despair. For although I 
have been so many years laid by useless, and out of 
the way of outward danger, yet one sleepless night 
must condemn me in the sight of that holy God who 
sets my sins in the light of his countenance. But it 
is a free and full salvation without money and with- 



mrs. jvt. carey's correspondence. 69 

out price. The blood of Christ still cleanses from all 
sin. Let rne beg of you to go fully to him, and you 
will find him ' a High Priest who can be touched 
with a feeling of your infirmities/ 

" Your affectionate Aunt, 

"M. Carey." 



CHAP. IV. 



EDUCATION — BAPTISM — EAELY MINISTRY — STUDIES 
AT OLNEY. 

u Heaven lies about us in our infancy ; 
Shades of the prison-house begin to close 
Upon the growing boy : 

But he beholds the light, and whence it flows ; 
He sees it in his joy.'' 5 

Of Mr. Carey's educational training at this early 
period of his history the writer has no information to 
give. But it is more than probable that, as at this 
time the good school at Pury was still in operation, 
under the direction of grandfather Edmund Carey, 
the pet grandson enjoyed the privilege of receiving 
his instruction there, as his uncle and father had done 
aforetime. It is somewhat remarkable that a simi- 
larity exists between Mr. Carey's handwriting and 
that of his uncle, Dr. Carey ; and, if this be any 
criterion, we may conclude that the same master 
taught both of them. To Mr. Edmund Carey's 
success in teaching all branches of knowledge, usually 
learnt in early life in the mother tongue, the writer 
has before alluded. It was, therefore, either at Pury 
or Northampton that Mr. Carey went through this 
course of early instruction. It must be remembered, 



EDUCATION. 



71 



however, that during all this time of his life, his con- 
tinued ill health prevented his close application to 
lessons. Another incident must now be noticed, 
which, equally with the one pointed out in the last 
chapter, indicates the hand which was leading " him 
in the right way." 

From early boyhood he had been in the habit of 
attending the able ministry of Dr. Eyland, at College 
Lane Chapel, Northampton. Subsequent events 
make it apparent, that it was there, as well as in the 
society of his relations, that his early associations 
were formed, and those companionships acquired, 
which were most likely to direct, and under Provi- 
dence, to shape the course of his future life ; for there 
he was surrounded with the very missionary stimulus 
which was to influence his entire destiny, And we 
may now see the curious fact, that if Northampton- 
shire had been, as it was familiarly called, the cradle 
of the mission, we have in it now, together with the 
midland counties (to continue the familiar allusion), 
its nursery ; for we have here preparing for the work 
abroad, in boyhood, and subsequently in manhood, 
John Lawson, Eustace Carey, William Yates, William 
H. Pearce, and James Penney. 

The incidents which follow are chiefly collected 
from the journal of Mrs. Mary Carey. While it is 
gratifying to the writer to be able to present 
materials gathered from such a source in Mr. Carey's 



72 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



onward history, it is not less so on account of the 
high testimony which they bear to the Christian 
character and devotedness of the afflicted writer. A 
perusal of their contents, and the brief narrative 
which has been given of her in these pages, cannot 
fail to impress this thought upon the mind, that 
persons who are by bodily infirmity cut off from 
the work-day employment incident to the activities 
of full health and life, may yet, in their solitary 
chamber, be most important members of the Church 
of Jesus Christ. Such was her modesty that she 
reckoned not herself even amongst those distinguished 
ones to whom our poet so touchingly alludes, 

" They also serve who only stand and wait" 

And truly, that which was required of her daily, 
was rather patient submission to the divine will ; for 
the mystery in her case, in all human judgment, was 
that her life should be continued. But her history, 
and the fact that she effectuated so much good on 
behalf of others, may present consolation to all 
afflicted ones in the Church of Christ, so that none 
need say, who can use the pen, " my strength and my 
hopes are perished from the Lord." 

In the following narrative an interval elapses 
between Mr. Carey's last residence at Northampton 
and the date with which Mrs. M. Carey's journal 
respecting him commences. It seems that in con- 



EDUCATION. 



73 



sequence of his continued feeble health his relations 
gave up all idea of his learning a business, and that 
they thought, especially his tutoress, that Providence 
would provide him with some other occupation which 
might be even then in reserve for him. His growth 
in devout piety, also in studious habits, strengthened 
this conviction ; and many a stroke on the forehead 
and approving smiles were passed over to him from 
the hand and the countenance of his kind friend, 
which gave him much encouragement. 

She mentions, in one of her diary-dottings, that he 
read a sermon to her one day ; and that before reading 
it he used the boy -like means of fastening the latch of 
the door with his pocket-knife, lest his cousins should 
by any chance, through a crevice, see what he was 
doing. 

The first entry with date is as follows. The final 
turning point in the subject of this history to which 
it alludes, cannot fail to present occasion for thanks- 
giving to all those who know the blessedness that is 
comiected with a true conversion of the heart to God. 

Great was his difficulty in inducing himself to 
make this first venture, even in the presence of one 
with whom he was so entirely at home, and in whose 
friendship he felt all confidence. At length he con- 
versed freely with her ; and she took occasion after- 
wards to mention his great backwardness and modesty. 
As it was in her ear alone that he preached his first 



74 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



sermon and offered his first audible prayer, so it is 
that now to her he ventured to utter the first whisper j 
of his own heart's love and ardent desire to give 
himself to Christ and his service for ever. 

In reference to this solemn step which is now taken 
by him, she thus writes : — 

"May 29, 1808. — Last Sabbath revived by hearing 
Eustace Carey speak of what the Lord had done for 
his soul. The modest manner in which he expressed 
himself gave me great pleasure, and almost overcame 
my weak frame, not being able to shed tears. O 
Lord may thy work, where we hope it is begun by 
thy Almighty power, be carried on in the hearts of 
our dear children." (Alluding to Eustace and two 
of his cousins.) The next record mentions his first 
attempt with her at audible prayer. 

" September, 1 808. — I have this day been indulged 
with waiting at thy footstool with one of them." 
(Alluding to her nephews under serious impression.) 
u O my God, give me a deep sense of obligation for 
such favour, and do thou keep him near thyself, and 
fit him and each of ours for great usefulness in thy 
Church. Restore his bodily health if most for thy 
glory ; but we wish to have submission to this and 
every dispensation. Be it mine to sanctify all thy 
mercies." 

" April 9, 1809. — Preserve and keep them* from the 

* Alluding also to a cousin who went to India to her uncle 
Dr. Carey. 



BAPTISM, 



75 



evils of the world, and I pray that the tender plants 
may be guarded from every nipping frost. Into thy 
hand I commit them ; and may we all meet round 
the throne of God, there to adore his love ! No night 
there, no days of separation. Suffer them not to be 
overcome by temptation to sin, but uphold them by 
thy power. Make them pillars in the temple of their 
God! 

"May we be nurses for the Church. The thought 
is delightful. May we give to God all the glory due 
to his name, and may these beginnings encourage 
our hope ; and these be as earnests to animate us to 
hope for the rest of our dear children to be brought 
into the glorious liberty of thy Church. What has 
God wrought on our behalf?" 

It now became evident that he had long been 
working in the field of his own mind, under the 
teaching of the Divine Spirit; and that the seed 
planted there at Paulerspury, and since fructified by 
the warm sunbeams at Cottisbrook, appeared in the 
blade, with promise of continued growth and vigour. 
To the Lord in whom he believes he yields himself, 
and all that he possesses, by a personal consecration; 
and then soon gives himself to the u Church by the 
will of God." Before many witnesses he was bap- 
tized July 7, 1809, by Dr. Byland of College Lane, 
now called College Street Chapel, Northampton. Dr. 
Byland, on his removal to Bristol College, was sue- 



76 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ceecled in the pastorate of the Church, assembling in 
the above place of worship, by Mr, Keeley, under 
whose ministry and pastoral care Mr. Carey was 
subsequently placed. Mrs. M. Carey thus refers to 
this event : — 

" This day I have the pleasure to expect my dear 
nephew is following his Lord in the ordinance of 
baptism. Lord, lift on him and each the light of 
thy countenance. May the joy of the Lord be his 
strength ! Keep him through life humble and 
honourable. I am ready to cry out, 'What is my 
father's house that such honours are put upon me ! 
May we each be kept to the end ; the cause of Christ 
not suffer on our account ; but keep us as the apple 
of thine eye V " 

The reader will learn in what manner and in what 
degree as to result, each of these petitions at the 
throne of grace on his behalf, was answered in the 
course and events of Mr. Carey's life. It may, how- 
ever, be remarked here, that his profession of faith in 
Christ was not "in name only;" neither was it 
like the blinking incertitude of an April day. In the 
clear, steady, full eye of all-joyous May, did he perceive 
and then embrace the truth. As the days were stern 
in which Mr. Carey became a member of the Church of 
Christ, so were there many stern eyes to look at him, 
and many stern truths were made very prominent 
with which the young disciple had to become ac- 



BAPTISM. 



77 



quaintecL And there was also many a test of the 
genuineness of the work on the heart in entering the 
Church, from which the refinements of the present 
times release those who are united to it. Whatever 
objection may now be made most justly to such 
sternness, it was certainly calculated to make the 
decided young Christian " look straight before him/' 
and the undecided one re-examine himself before his 
final decision. The slough of despond and the 
wicket gate were then between the awakened person 
and the Church ; for in these days they were Bunyan's 
sort of good pilgrims who for the most part entered 
into it ; who inquired " for the old paths/' and were 
willing to encounter on foot all the trials and dangers 
of the road. The narrow way had then to be trodden 
step by step, with the burden on the back, the back 
to the world and the fingers in the ears. Besides, 
the state of society within the Church required that 
"the face should be Zionward/' as the old phrase 
expresses it, with all the power and persevering 
activity of a new life. 

Therefore it was no little thing to become a 
member of a Church. Most emphatically were persons 
taught at the very threshold of its portal, " that it 
is through much tribulation we must enter into the 
kingdom of heaven."" 

The reader will perceive that this decision was not 
hastily arrived at. It was not the growth of a day. 



78 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



The cost must have been well counted ; for we find 
Mr. Carey, immediately after his baptism, entering 
upon spiritual work ;* and in the earnest longing of 
his youthful heart, and the burning holy desire of his 
renewed soul, ejaculating in a voice feeble and falter- 
ing through the weakness of its earthly tenement 
only, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do? ;5 
This prayer soon receives its answer. While every 
encouragement was given to him at College Lane 
Chapel for the exercise of his gifts in various bene- 
volent services, there were some members of the 
church who made out that young Carey had amongst 
these the gift of speech, or address \ and they invited 
him to exercise that gift at the Sunday morning 
Prayer Meetings. Here commenced his early ministry, 
to which Mr. Carey often alluded in after life, and 
to the kind manner in which the friends at College 
Lane used to listen to him. These prayer meetings 
were held sometimes at five, and sometimes at six 
o'clock in the morning ; and here it was that he first 
gave utterance to his ardent thoughts and feelings in 
public. Here he might be seen at that early hour, as 
a fragile-looking youth, making his way through the 
cold air of the morning to this assembly, accompanied 
by his mother. He also distinctly remembered the 

* Indeed lie must have done so before this time, for, in one of 
his missionary speeches, he says ; " When I was a boy of fifteen 
I began to preach. " 



EARLY MINISTRY. 



79 



manner in which some spoke of, and cared for him, 
as he walked through the streets of Northampton. 
| His ill health made him the object of their pity, 
which they expressed in some such manner as the 
following : — " Not long for this world/' said one old 
Christian on passing him. cc It is well that he should 
be so serious, falling, as he is likely to do, as a nipped 
summer rose-bud into an early grave." 

a But the fire of his eyes/' said another, " looks 
like life, bless him ; perhaps God has something for 
him to do." 

" He had better have been in bed," said the first, 
" than up at this hour of the morning." 

There was life truly, not only " in those eyes," but 
in that assembly to which he was going. About 
fifteen years had passed away since Dr. Carey had 
left this country for India ; and had in this place and 
county, and throughout the country, raised for him- 
self an imperishable memorial by his unexampled 
zeal, and his indomitable courage and perseverance. 
Although he was thousands of miles away his 
influence had not died away, at least in the midland 
counties ; but continued to radiate as from a common 
centre to counties and places beyond these. Thus 
God continued to acknowledge his prayers and the 
labours of others as the faithful pioneers of this 
great work. 

Therefore the reader may easily imagine the charm 



80 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



whicli the speaker's name, the place, the earnestness 
and zeal of the youth, the easy flow of language 
which he then commanded, had ; — many stopping to 
ask, " Can you tell me who this stripling is ?" More- 
over, the grace and refinement of his manner, the 
narrow, yet sonorous, penetrating voice, and added to 
all this, a body with a pale countenance, and long, 
strengthless frame, seeming to bend down and shudder 
over the icy grave which his shadowy existence had 
just left, like one of those beautiful flowers amongst 
the crevasses and icy snows of the Alps — those 
"slender, pensive, fragile flowers, whose small, dark, 
purple-fringed bell hangs down over the icy cleft 
that it has cloven, as if partly wondering at its own 
recent grave, and partly dying of very fatigue after 
its hazardous victory."* 

Yes, there is life in that assembly, for He is there 
who said, " Where two or three are gathered together 
in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The 
youth and his mother make their way to the vestry. 
The former takes his place by the table, and gives out 
the hymn which the old folks, and afterwards the 
young folks, sang almost every Sunday morning there; 
and now can the mother and the son sing together 
with melody of heart as well as of voice — 

(: love divine, how sweet thou art." 



* Ruskm. 



EARLY MINISTRY. 



81 



In another hymn — 

" Come we that love the Lord, 
And let our joys be known, 
Join in a song of sweet accord, 
And thus surround the throne.' 5 

Making it apparent, in the gladsome joyousness of 
their praise, that 

" Religion never was designed 
To make our pleasures less." 

Then followed prayer, and then another favourite 
hymn : — * 

"In all my Lord's appointed ways 
My journey I'll pursue ; 
Hinder me not, ye much-loved saints, 
For I will go with you." 

And then it was that the love of his soul outflowed, 
and was conveyed from heart to heart throughout that 
assembly. Both of the old ladies blessed him un- 
awares ; for they now thought only of Him, through 
faith in whose name the word spoken went with 
power to all hearts ; by whose presence every burden 
was rolled away from the mind of each, and all united 
in exclaiming, " The Lord is risen indeed. Did not 
our heart burn within us while he talked with us by 
the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures." 
Mrs. M. Carey mentions these meetings in her 

* This is Dr. Ryland's hymn. "Whether it were printed or 
not at the time of Mr. Carey's ministry, he repeatedly mentioned 
that it was sung on these occasions. 

Gr 



82 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



diary and records, " the people then hung upon his 
lips, for it was the language of love. He was very 
backward, modest, and amiable ; for he was never 
known to be any other than amiable. He then 
appeared as a stripling, and as going into another 
world* To think that he should say so much, and I 
am so ignorant, for his preaching was even then 
eloquent" 

The above remarks are without date, but their 
reference is, doubtless, to these exercises. 

Soon after this time he engaged in other and more 
public services with equal success, and gave great 
pleasure to those who heard him, both at these 
meetings and others in the villages, and on the 
week-day evenings at College Lane. The clouds 
which had hitherto darkened his sky, throitgh the 
feebleness of his bodily health, now began to part 
and to permit a flood of light to stream down upon 
his future path. By the suffrages of the church of 
which he is a member, he is invited to devote himself 
to the work of the ministry ; as events roll on, his 
way is made clear in Providence, and] as he thinks, 
by the call of God, to devote himself to this great 
work. That which has for some time been the 
earnest desire and purpose of his heart is now granted 
him as the result of waiting and much prayer. This 
invitation of the church he accepted, and entered 
upon his preparatory studies in the autumn of 1809, 



STUDIES AT OLNEY. 



83 



under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Sutcliff, of Olney.* 
Mrs. M. Carey notices this event as follows : — 

"August 20, 1809. — Lord, thy vows are upon me. 
.... I have the happiness to see one of my children 
called by grace in early life, and devoted to thy 
service. Thou shalt have all the praise. Thou, Lord, 
hast given me the desire of my heart in great mercy, 
and I hope this week he is to be called by thy dear 
children to the work of the ministry. Two more I 
hope thou hast inclined with Mary to choose that 
good part which shall not be taken from them. Yet 
my heart is not affected as it should be to pay my 
vows to the Lord for such unspeakable mercies, 
such great obligations, and such evident answers to 
prayer, to my feeble requests. Lord, grant that my 
ingratitude may not provoke thy Spirit to withdraw 
his influences now on those dear young ones. I 
know thou wouldst be just were the blight to be 
permitted to check the growth, or the frost of 
temptation to nip the tender plants in the bud. But 
hitherto thy hand seems to uphold them. May thy 
blessings continually surround them through life. 
Let them and each one of ours be pillars in thy 
Church, to go no more out ! 

tc Nov. 1809. — Lord, grant that every fresh instance 
of thy mercy may make a deep impression on my 

* Whose name is associated with the origination of the Baptist 
Missionary Society. 

G 2 



84 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



heart. May I record thy goodness in this instance, 
that thou hast opened a way for the instruction of 
one of my dear children. May he be kept near to 
his God, and fitted for great usefulness in thy 
cause. 

"April 14, 1811. — (On her hearing his first 
sermon.) O my God, this morning my soul seems 
refreshed. What honours hast thou conferred upon 
me that my life is preserved to see, and even to hear 
a sermon read, composed by one of our dear children, 
which gives me pleasure to hope thou hast designed 
him for much good on earth wherever thy providence 
has appointed him, in India or any other part. Lord, 
keep him faithful to the end, and crown every effort 
to win souls to Christ with success." 

At Olney, for three years or four, Mr. Carey's studies 
were pursued with considerable diligence and success. 
His natural or acquired habits, from ill health, being 
sedentary, and at this time, those of a recluse, 
except when occupied in preaching, were very favour- 
able to his progress in classical and other knowledge. 
Preaching was his favourite employment, and he 
often remarked, respecting the time which he spent 
at Olney, that this contributed as much as, and 
perhaps more, to his successful preparation for the 
ministry, than his more laboured studies. These 
latter were, doubtless, necessary to fit him rightly to 
exercise the gifts which can by no artificial means be 



STUDIES AT OLNEY. 



85 



acquired, namely, those of a ready address and 
eloquent persuasiveness, both in feeling and utterance. 
These he had as a natural endowment, as the gift of 
God; and he takes care to nourish and cherish be- 
stowments so precious by constant exercise. If, in 
pursuing abstruse theological and other literature 
while at Olney, or subsequently at Bristol, he had 
spent all his time and energy in the acquirement of 
thought and the right adjustment of materials for 
his sermons, his natural gifts, unused, would soon 
have been lost ; his zeal and courage cooled ; and, 
instead of going forth to the churches with a warm 
and ardent soul, he would have been cold, circumspect, 
exhausted, theoretic ; aiming more at the preaching of 
himself " than Christ Jesus the Lord." His strictures 
were often very severe on the present plan of training 
young men for the ministry. The reader must not 
suppose for one moment that Mr. Carey was one of 
those who was dissatisfied, in the language of so 
many who say — "the olden days were better than 
these." By no means was he a conservative in this 
sense of the word ; for he moved on in almost all good 
things with the moving times: but the writer has 
heard him say, when speaking on this subject, ee the 
young men do not preach half so much as we did in 
our time." He had his thoughts on this subject, 
which the writer wishes had been embodied in his 
own language, and thus presented here. As such 



86 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



thoughts ought to be freely circulated, and are wanted 
more than ever in our own times, the writer has 
appended to the next chapter a brief outline of them 
as they were frequently expressed by Mr. Carey in 
conversation. To continue the narrative. So much, 
as has been remarked, did "the people then hang 
upon his lips/' that, when preaching at Northampton, 
if any one inquired who was the preacher, no one 
ever answered contemptuously — "Oh, it is only a 
student/' 

It was evident now to all who watched his progress 
that he was rapidly preparing for some post of 
honourable service in the Church of Christ. This 
he intended, in its very commencement, should be 
service, and not merely a polite profession or accom- 
plishment. Hard work at preaching, which it was 
evident would become his fort, was sedulously 
followed ; and from his addresses at the early morning 
prayer meeting and other devoted labours it was also 
evident that his heart the Lord had touched with 
deep compassion for the lost. But this compassion, 
while ever in exercise for those at home, extended 
itself, in the freshest bloom of his youth, in the first 
ripe feelings of his heart, to the lost and perishing 
heathen in India. 

It had not been in vain that he had sat at the feet 
of his early instructress, whose soul was kindled with 
a coal from the missionary altar. If, as the celebrate d 



STUDIES AT OLNEY. 



87 



West playfully said of himself,* " it was my mother's 
stroke on my forehead that made me a painter/' it 
may be remarked here, with a similar meaning, that 
it was the zeal and glowing love for the souls of 
men, of his aunt, and the encouragement and stimulus 
which she presented, that made Mr. Carey a 
minister and a missionary. Besides these, her holy, 
patient, submissive life was to him as a window into 
the celestial city through which he saw the golden 
streets and angels who beckoned him away; the 
river of the fountain of the water of life, clear as 
crystal, whence she had derived that u well of water 
which springeth up into everlasting life." In the 
sweet undertone of her soul, now that his "heart 
listens," he hears the music of the upper sanctuary ; 
and the sublime spectacle that he beheld in her of a 
soul rising into the dignity of God's moral image 
under accumulated suffering and sorrow; these were 
the means, accompanied by the power of the Spirit of 
God on Mr. Carey's mind, of bringing him early in 
life into the fold of Christ, and leading to the resolve, 
" I will go with you, for I have heard that God is 
■with you ;" and to the subsequent devotion of himself 

* One day, when a boy, his mother found him in his own 
apartment at his favourite pursuit of drawing, at a time which 
had been allotted to him for his common lessons. Instead of a 
reproof, as a wise mother she gave the above token of her affec- 
tionate approval. 



88 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



on the altar of his God in the sacrifice and service of 
his faith which he is about to make. 

The reader may imagine the glow of pleasure with 
which he looked back on Mrs. M. Carey's Bible, the 
spot on which he offered his first prayer with her, and 
preached his first sermon; and where she had pre- 
viously uttered "the first whispers of grace in his 
ear." These were vividly brought to his recollection 
when writing the letter from India before referred to, 
and in various periods of his after life. Neither had 
it been in vain that from boyhood, familiar with 
Dr. Carey's correspondence, also his successful work 
in India, he had pondered, and so often cast a longing 
eye to that distant country. 

Above all, it had not been in vain that he had 
prayerfully considered the claim which his Saviour 
had on him; not only for the consecration of his 
powers to his service, but for their consecration, after 
a defined form, in one especial direction. This con- 
viction so much increases that at length it amounts 
to a passion, and he says — cc Necessity is laid upon 
me, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel" in 
India. Mr. Carey received the following letter from 
his uncle, Dr. Carey, which was a great encourage- 
ment to him. 

"March 12, 1812.— Whether you come to India 
or not, be assured that the work of publishing the 
Gospel is the most important work you could have 



STUDIES AT OLNEY. 



89 



chosen. Engage in it with humble dependence on 
God, and with a single eye to his glory, and I 
doubt not but He will give a blessing to your 
undertaking. I am fully of opinion that every 
person to whom God has given abilities for the 
work, is bound to devote himself to the work of the 
ministry. It is not at the option of such a person 
whether he will engage in it or not ; nor is it at the 
option of a Church whether it will send one to the 
work of the ministry, upon whom God has bestowed 
spiritual gifts. If the Church neglect to send such 
a member into the ministry, the guilt lies on them. 
The number of persons now required to spread the 
Gospel through the earth is unspeakably great. If 
fifty thousand ministers, besides those actually em- 
ployed, were now to go forth, they would be so thinly 
spread about as scarcely to be perceived. The harvest 
is indeed great, but the labourers are very few." 

He wrote, in a letter to his sisters in 1811, "A 
letter from Eustace has also given me great pleasure. 
May the God of Abraham bless them all, and may 
his name be upon them !" 

The reader will have noticed, from the preceding* 
narrative, that some few years passed away between 
the time of Mr. Carey's becoming religious and that 
of his dedication of himself to Christ in the ordi- 
nance of baptism. The reason of this, doubtless, was, 



90 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



that he might the more effectually examine for him- 
self and understand the will of God in this matter. 
This ordinance, as administered to adults, was not 
new in his family, as it had been in that of Dr. Carey's 
when he first became a Nonconformist. With this 
part of his Christian profession, therefore, he had 
been familiar from boyhood, both in his aunt's 
family and in the ministry which he attended at 
Northampton. 

The writer has heard him say that he read no book 
on adult baptism, except the Bible ; so that he fol- 
lowed the example of his good uncle in this respect. 
One book which he perused on infant baptism tended 
more than anything he read, except the Scriptures, 
to make him a Baptist. As no one could have 
persuaded him in this matter to act contrary to his 
conscientious convictions, so he ever retained a very 
strong dislike to treat this at all controversially. So 
simple and natural were the views which he took 
upon it, and so entirely conclusive to his own mind, 
that he could no more argue respecting it than he 
could about the shining of the sun at noon-day when 
there are no clouds, or the free and constant circu- 
lation of the air which he inhaled. As he received 
his religion thankfully and without difficulty, so he 
received both ordinances, which are designed, as he 
conceived, so strikingly to symbolize some of its 
sublimest facts. Baptism, as the burial with Christ 



STUDIES AT OLNET. 



91 



"into his death, by which also believers rise with 
him to walk in newness of life;" and the Lord's 
Supper, as a memorial of the Saviour's death, and a 
pledge to his Church of his return to the earth. 
• Neither of these did he attempt to explain away or 
to spiritualize away; neither of them did he view 
as " a cross/' or " an ordeal," as if they, especially 
baptism, were forbidding, and to be dreaded. As 
the performance of any other duty, which is a privilege 
at the same time, did he view these commands of his 
divine Lord. As he prayed, and preached, and sang, 
and gave thanks, and took his daily bread, so he 
took each of the ordinances at the hands of his 
loving Saviour, who in each, as he understood them, 
said, " Do this in remembrance of me." 

His views of the nature and design of baptism 
were formed as much on the ground of the spiritual 
nature of Christ's kingdom, and its (as he would say) 
homogeneity therewith, as from any direct instruc- 
tion and example in the New Testament. He con- 
ceived, that as it had been introduced by the Head of 
the Church, first, by the consecration of himself in 
the waters of the Jordan at the commencement of his 
ministry, and secondly when united by him with 
the great commission which he gave to his disciples, 
to "preach the gospel to every creature," which was, 
moreover, necessarily designed to apply to his dis- 
ciples throughout all time; as the thing signified 



92 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



by baptism would remain on earth during the period 
of the Lord's mediatorial work, so, by necessary 
consequence, its symbol, " until the Son shall 
have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the 
Father." 

Mr. Carey baptized one or two of his native 
converts in India ; but, not being a pastor at home, 
he never administered the rite, nor gave any promi- 
nence to the subject in preaehing. Very often has 
the writer witnessed his entire (apparent) indiffer- 
ence in conversation to this subject; when, by a 
happy turn, or by silence, he has made more im- 
pression than by any lengthened argument. The 
following is a fair specimen : " Mr. Carey," said a 
lady, " I see adult baptism to be quite right, and yet 
I cannot make my mind up to submit to it. I am 
very unhappy about it sometimes ; I suppose you 
would advise me still to pray about it, Sir?" 

" I tell you what I advise, Madam. Go and do what 
you know to be right, and pray afterwards. Your 
prayers will then be likely to give you more pleasure." 

The old folks at Northampton, who took so much 
pitying notice of him on account of his ill-health, 
would often ask him before he became a member, 
tc whether he did not see baptism," about which 
phrase he used to laugh very much. Another phrase 
has taken the place of this in common parlance, 
which, however much more to the taste of some, was 



STUDIES AT OLNEY. 



93 



not at all so to his. He would say what " Baptist 
principles" were he did not know; he knew of only 
one Baptist principle, and that was u the principle of 
being baptized." 

He had a dislike to the word Baptist, as a denomi- 
national epithet, belonging, as he conceived it did, 
minus the opprobrious prefix Ana, to the dark ages. The 
writer has heard him say that he would like these 
Greek words, both root and derivatives (now Angli- 
cised, but which we do not need in our language), 
"to be transported to their own native land, left 
within the confines of their own tongue, and not to 
quit it again upon pain of death." {C Baptists are Con- 
gregationalists," he used to say ; "but it would be as 
well if they were known by the plain epithet by 
which the disciples of Christ were distinguished first 
in Antioch." 



CHAP. V. 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE — HIS THOUGHTS ON 
STUDENTS FOE THE MINISTRY — INTERCOURSE WITH 
MR. HALL. 

" See what charms ! 
This hour of prime affords ; with hasty step 
Impress the dewy lawns, and gladly taste 
The various blessings from the bounteous hand 
Of heaven, poured out each ravished sense to please." 

The period of youth is now rapidly advancing to man- 
hood, and life, as a great fact, will soon be present 
in all its weighty cares and trials; for these/ it is 
well to remember, are as much a part of its earnest 
reality as are those which are usually deemed " bless- 
ings from the hand of heaven, poured out each ra- 
vished, sense to please." 

From Olney, in 1812, Mr. Carey goes to Bristol Col- 
lege as a missionary student. Of this period, and of his 
preparation for the great work before him, his per- 
sonal friend, Dr. Hoby, thus writes. This paper, 
obligingly prepared for this work by Dr. Hoby, the 
writer has taken the liberty of dividing; reserving 
the remaining paragraphs of it for advanced pages 
in this history, that its chronology may not be inter- 
rupted, nor future events anticipated. 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. 



95 



"1 first became acquainted with Mr. Carey at Bris- 
tol College during the session 1812-13. He had 
entered as a missionary student, with a view to 
foreign work among the heathen, and was to join 
the brethren at Serampore. This, connected with 
the name he bore, as related to his illustrious uncle, 
awakened very considerable interest in the hearts of 
his fellow-students. 

" Acquaintance quickly ripened into a friendship, 
which remained unimpaired for more than forty 
years. Circumstances occasionally interrupted our 
intercourse, but during the entire period, a general 
coincidence of views, and sympathy of feelings, in 
reference to all the important concerns of the Mission, 
as well as mutual friendship with the fellow-labourers 
with whom he was associated in India, strengthened 
our attachment, and rendered our correspondence the 
more agreeable. 

"Whether, therefore, referring to his preliminary 
preparation for, and entrance upon, missionary work — 
his ten years of toil, with much suffering, in a tropi- 
cal climate — or his long term of service as the tra- 
velling representative of the Society, after his return 
from the East, I should uniformly speak of him in 
terms dictated by the most cordial and approving 
regard. He is to be classed among those who have 
eminently followed the Lamb in the regeneration of 
the world, and worthy of honour as one of the 



96 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



e messengers of tlie Churches, and the glory of 
Christ/ 

"To take that wide range would be, however, to 
write a life ; and I am happy to know that the work 
of the Biographer is in other hands much better 
qualified. 

" Recollections of Bristol, and the College life of my 
departed friend, will be comprised in a very short com- 
pass. The first thing that occurs to mind is the frail, 
and almost ethereal, personal appearance of the youth, 
whose attenuated frame presented a striking contrast 
to the ordinary robustness of early manhood. Yet 
was there an erectness and elasticity about his atti- 
tude and movements, when relieved from severe attacks 
of illness, which warranted the conclusion that there 
might be more of vital energy in that feeble form 
than the casual observer would suppose. This im- 
pression was doubtless strengthened by an air of dig- 
nified politeness which always distinguished him. He 
was remarkable for all that may be comprised among 
the minor morals, which give a charm to social inter- 
course. This, with a native elegance of mind, added 
a certain refinement to his bearing, as far removed 
from everything vulgar on the one hand, as from all 
that is frigid and repulsive on the other. 

"At the same time more substantial excellences 
won upon the hearts of Christians, and endeared the 
young preacher to a large circle of friends. Not only 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. 



97 



was his susceptible and ardent mind imbued with the 
missionary spirit, while with unaffected modesty and 
transparent integrity he sought to carry into practi- 
cal operation the great principles he avowed, but he 
was a holy and devout man. His concern for the 
salvation of the heathen and the glory of God, was 
displayed with a Christ-like temper, and by many 
fervent prayers. His decision and steadfastness were 
remarkable : he never wavered in the great purpose 
he had formed, but uniformly held himself ready to 
acquiesce in the arrangements of the managers of 
the Mission for his departure. 

"In reference to this point, some difference of opinion 
obtained. Many thought him destined to rest in an 
early grave at home, rather than to buffet with the 
storms of a long voyage, and then encounter the 
hardships of a foreign heathen land. The very 
brightness which sometimes kindled in his sparkling 
eye, and lighted up his intelligent countenance, when 
the heroism of our first missionaries was the topic of 
discourse, seemed unearthly, and sent a sadness to 
the heart, as if an indication rather of speedy trans- 
lation to a world of glory, than becoming a beaming 
and shining light on the earth. 

" But it was not exclusively on the ground of this 
constitutional feebleness, and these frequent infirmi- 
ties, that objections were made to Mr. Carey's depar- 
ture to India. He was in early life exceedingly 



98 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



popular as a preacher, and many thought him pos- 
sessed of talents for extraordinary usefulness at home. 
A striking originality of diction, and peculiar con- 
struction of language, gave a freshness to his style, 
which, aided by the earnestness and pathos of his 
manner, with much beauty of rhetoric, rendered his 
eloquence impressive to the general hearer, and emi- 
nently acceptable to the Church of Christ. Among 
others, the late Rev. Robert Hall maintained that 
sending Mr. Carey abroad would be to deprive the 
Churches at home of the ministry of one of the most 
gifted preachers lately raised up among them, and one 
pre-eminently qualified to present the claims of the 
Mission to the Christian public generally. The wis- 
dom and grace of the great Head of the Church, who 
sees the end from the beginning, was, however, dis- 
played in permitting his servant first to pursue his 
early predilections, and employ his talents among the 
heathen, as one of the most competent and effective 
preachers to the natives, and then to return and 
occupy for thirty years the very position which such 
friends would have assigned to him." 

Mr. Carey's studies at Bristol were pursued with 
unabated attention and constancy. Notwithstanding 
his continued feebleness of body, his purpose was un- 
wavering ; and the draught which his college studies 
made upon him were the means of increasing, rather 
than, as in too many instances, cooling the ardour of 



^RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. 99 



his mind for ministerial work. He possessed, more- 
over, so much natural eloquence, and was becoming 
so increasingly popular, that, as Dr. Hoby mentions, 
it was seriously advised by some, and especially by 
Robert Hall, that he should remain at home to plead 
the cause of his Saviour and of Missions in his own 
native land. But the fact, so well pointed out by the 
writer of the above paper, was a very striking one, 
that he should have his own wish entirely granted 
him, — that of labouring for ten years in a foreign 
field, and then returning, and for thirty years carry- 
ing on the same work at home. 

On Mr. Carey's going to Bristol College, Mrs. M. 
Carey writes, — 

" October 17, 1813.— Thy goodness, O Lord, has in- 
dulged me through the past fortnight by an interview 
with thy servants, the ministers, and our dear children. 
Lord, let not these favours be forgotten by either of us. 
Do thou help us to resign him who is going out, and 
devoting himself and all dear to him to thy service. 
We rejoice in being called to make a sacrifice ; may 
it be accepted as an offering to the Lord. May 
we thus be called to give up all our children to such 
a Lord and such a cause. Do thou fix the bounds 
of their habitation, and cause the lines to fall in 
pleasant places. Wherever they go do thou go with 
them, and they shall be blessed." 

H 2 



100 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



This is the last record which the writer has been 
able to find in the journal of Mrs. M. Carey referring 
to her nephew. Very pleasant has her companionship 
been. Perhaps to the reader she may appear in this 
history as the stranger, " the way-faring person that 
turns aside to tarry with him for a night." But in 
giving place to her for this short season, who shared 
so great a part in the formation of Mr. Carey's 
character, we may have followed the Apostle's injunc- 
tion, and received its reward : — " Be not forgetful to 
entertain strangers, for thereby some have enter- 
tained angels unawares." Having seen her nephew 
into the Church, the ministry, and on his way to 
India, she bids him a long adieu in her journal; while 
she continues through her night of toil, which is no 
hymn, but a long psalm of life ; not concluding day 
by day, but oft broken by the souPs chiding soliloquy, 
" Why art thou cast down, Oh, my soul, and why 
art thou disquieted within me. Hope thou in God, 
for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my 
countenance and my God." 

Who can peruse her devout ejaculations without 
glorifying God in the writer of them. Now she had 
her reward in the blessedness for which she prayed, 
namely, that she and her sister might be nurses for 
the Church. The dark mystery of God in her 
afflicted case seems now to have a sunbeam thrown 
on it from the heavenly world. It may be that she 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. 



101 



is prostrated, that slie may pray more effectually, 
and that these prayers, so earnest in asking the right 
thing, so agonizing, so entirely prayer that "would 
give God no rest," that could not be denied, were 
those which were the means of so much blessing ; 
the gathering a harvest of souls, who were brought 
by her instrumentality to Christ, and saved from 
death. Now it may be that her more than angelic 
ministry makes it apparent that — 

" To feel, although no tongue can prove, 
That every cloud that spreads above 
And veileth love, itself is love." 

Another and another of her young relations did 
she lead to Christ her Saviour ; and her influence on 
the next generation, her grand-children , as she called 
them, is as fresh this day as when she taught her 
nephew. These are at this day living monuments of 
her usefulness and worth. 

We must now bid adieu for the present to this 
afflicted saint. We shall meet again before the final 
close of this history. 

We hear much in the days in which we live of 
woman's mission, woman's rights, woman's this thing, 
that, and the other. The writer would ask, in passing, 
whether the two women whose excellences have 
illumined the foregoing pages, did not, without the 
theory, understand well the practice of woman's 
mission. How this may differ from man's mission, 



102 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



or what this may be, — but fulfilling the life-duties of 
every day well, and besides this, scattering good on 
every hand as they did while pressing on towards 
heaven, — the writer does not know. Here is a widow 
who brings up a large family on very small means ; 
and a sister respecting whom no word needs to be 
added here. If women are wise they will secure 
their rights, honour, and authority. If they show a 
loving spirit they will be sure to be loved in return, 
and so on through the wmole circle of common virtues. 
As to her mission, let her show that to live is a fear- 
ful responsibility ; and that, in order to live well, it 
is needful to "fear God and keep his command- 
ments;" including as these do the whole duty of 
woman as well as man. Such a mission, in this stu- 
pendous work-day world, will not be in vain. The 
many treatises which are written on the above 
subject suggest to the mind, without the trouble of 
deep thought, that our present times are not only 
those in which there is much trifling with the great 
duties of life, but that there is a great deal more leisure 
than the generality of persons would imagine. 

The most casual glance at society will convince 
the observer that time now is a bad commodity in 
the world's market; that people really have leisure 
to sit down and think what they shall think about in 
their thinking. In time of the old coaches and stage 
wagons, if people took a journey they had gravely 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. 103 



to ponder how they should take it. Now, the journey 

is no sooner thought of than it is accomplished. 

Penny-postage and electric telegraph are both at 

hand to save time in correspondence ; out of work is 

a phrase of frequent occurrence, and the truth of the 

old couplet is yet extant, — 

ce Satan finds some mischief still 
Eor idle hands to do. 5 ' 

This is not the place to discuss such a subject, 
but it is one of great curiosity, and would well repay 
any person who should give it more attention. That 
these times are most leisurely, no one needs to doubt 
who looks at the professing Church as well as the 
world. There is now time for dividing the graces of 
the Divine Spirit into distinct organizations. One 
body of Christians is for love, another for peace, 
another for temperance, another for hope; "but the 
fruit of the Spirit is one, and it is love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
temperance. " What God has joined together let not 
man put asunder." 

With reference to the brief period that Mr. Carey 
spent at Bristol College, the Rev. J. Dore, of Ash- 
burton, supplies the following sentences. The con- 
cluding paragraphs of this paper are reserved for a 
subsequent page. 

" As it was my privilege to have been a fellow- 
student, and for a considerable time a class-mate, 



104 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



with the late Rev. Eustace Carey, at Bristol College, 
at the time Dr. Ryland was the president, I can, 
from personal knowledge, with confidence, bear tes- 
timony to his virtues and eminent piety as a 
Christian; to his diligence and perseverance as a 
student, and to his superior talents as a classical 
scholar. The meekness of his disposition, the suavity 
of his manners, and his obliging deportment, won 
the esteem and secured the respect of all his fellow- 
students; while the strict attention he paid to all 
the duties of the college, and the progress he made 
in the various branches of his studies, obtained the 
high approbation of his respected tutors. 

" In all the college exercises, whether in the lecture- 
room or the vestry, he evinced great attention and 
care. He displayed in the composition of his ora- 
tions and sermons, there delivered, more than ordi- 
nary talent, and thereby gave great satisfaction to 
the president, tutors, and students. His mental 
character was a credit to the college of which he 
was a student, and to the denomination of which he 
was a minister, while it reflected a lustre on the 
circle of Christians in which he moved. His mental 
energies were mellowed with meekness, and regulated 
by prudence without ostentation. He often dis- 
played quickness of thought, governed by soberness 
and truth — active intelligence, directed by maturity 
of judgment. 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. 



J 05 



" His mental powers were not the wild growth of 
mere luxuriant foliage, but resembled the well-pro- 
portioned tree that produced its variegated blossom, 
and never failed to yield its delicious fruit." 

The Rev. Edward Hull has kindly recorded some 
reminiscences of Mr. Carey. They are addressed to 
the writer, and are as follows. As in the case of the 
preceding contributions, the writer reserves its closing 
paragraphs. 

" I have great pleasure in meeting your request, by 
recording for your notice a few reminiscences of your 
late excellent and widely-esteemed husband. 

" It w r as my privilege to know him, and be much 
in his company, before his departure for missionary 
work in India. I was then a youth, but, feeling a 
love for the Redeemer's cause, took deep interest in 
the movements then carried on for the spread of the 
gospel in the heathen world. The scene of my early 
acquaintance with Mr. Carey was Leicester, and in 
connexion with the congregation of the late Robert 
Hall. That celebrated man formed a strong affection 
for Mr. Carey, welcomed him into his society, and 
often introduced him to his pulpit. I have a vivid 
recollection of the preaching of Mr. Carey in those 
seasons. His youthful appearance, his musical voice, 
clear pronunciation, and flowing style, charmed his 
numerous hearers. The chapel was always thronged 
when he preached. The impression produced was 



106 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



often deep ; and when he touched on his anticipated 
separation from his native land, and the distant scenes 
of his future labour, awakened thrilling emotions. 
From the gallery where I sat, I remember often look- 
ing round with pleasure, to observe the numerous con- 
gregation in sympathy with the preacher, and heartily 
receiving the truths so glowingly set forth. The in- 
terest of the scene was heightened by the presence of 
Mr. Hall, whose majestic form was seen reposing in 
the pew, while his eyes were fixed on the youthful 
missionary with evident approbation of the sentiments 
uttered. It was no small proof of preaching ability 
to be able, as did Mr. Carey, to please on such occa- 
sions the stated hearers of the most profound and 
eloquent preacher of the day. I may remark, in 
passing, that no one who did not habitually hear the 
distinguished man just referred to can form an ade- 
quate idea of his power of impression — of his capa- 
bility of infusing his soul into the minds of his 
hearers, so that they became full of the truths he 
uttered, and for the season were greatly lifted beyond 
themselves. I have seen in those days the congre- 
gation trembling with awe before the preacher, — at 
other times wrought to a state of high tremulous, 
ecstatic emotion. The description of his preaching, 
however, has been too frequently given to need repe- 
tition, yet I shall never forget those exciting' and 
hallowed sermons. In the midst of those interesting 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. 



107 



times Mr. Carey's preaching maintained its attractive 
power. About the same time Mr. Yates, — since known 
as Dr. Yates, so much distinguished for his masterly 
acquaintance with the Eastern tongue, — came forth to 
present himself as a fellow-missionary in the Eastern 
field with Mr. Carey. Mr. Yates also frequently 
preached in those days for Mr. Hall, and displayed 
peculiar ability. Although his discourses were less 
flowing than those of Mr. Carey, he nevertheless 
awakened great interest. The two missionaries then 
just consecrating themselves to the great work united 
in fraternal affection, and, with the freshness of early 
manhood, excited the strong sympathy and prayers of 
the friends of the Redeemer. At the house of a 
venerated relative of my own, — one who had years 
before, for months together, entertained Dr. Carey 
previously to his departure for India, — they united, 
once a week, with other friends, in social prayer for a 
blessing on their future labours. Mr. Hall was gene- 
rally present ; Mr. Mack, of Clipstone, also, and 
other ministers, were occasionally there. The devo- 
tional fervour and impression of these meetings were 
of sacred interest. In throwing my spirit back to 
those seasons, I can almost feel their power, the 
solemnity and spiritual fragrance by which they were 
distinguished. The Spirit of God moved earnestly 
on their minds, and their wrestling in prayer was 
mighty and effectual. 



108 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



" When the devotional hour was concluded, a plain 
repast was provided, and then lively conversation was 
maintained, and a happy flow of soul realized. Mr. 
Hall seemed quite at home, and in full spirits, while 
Carey, Yates, and others kept his powers at work, 
and contributed to make the close of the evening 
deeply instructive. It was an humble picture of the 
scene at Bethany ; for there were the highest conver- 
sational powers, lofty devotion, and enlarged intelli- 
gence in colloquial communication.^ 

The above allusions to the social intercourse which 
it was Mr. Carey's privilege to enjoy with Mr. Hall, 
are very interesting. Many were the pleasant re- 
citals which Mr. Carey used to give of these interviews. 
It was his great privilege to visit Mr. Hall very fre- 
quently, and to receive from him the most marked 
attention and kindness. The time of these visits was 
about three in the afternoon, when Mr. Hall took 
his early cup of tea. Mr. Carey then went in to 
make his tea for him, and to enjoy his society. 
Sometimes he carried in a manuscript of his own 
on which to consult him ; sometimes he would 
endeavour to elicit his opinions on various topics in 
conversation. 

So long as the kettle contained any supply of water 
the tea would go on, and the discourse too. He has 
often said, never were human thoughts more brilliant, 
nor clothed in words of more grace and beauty. 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. 109 



" They were like apples of gold in pictures (or frames) 
of silver." Mr. Hull has compared the evening social 
meetings to those at Bethany; and the writer may, 
without any breach of propriety , compare these after- 
noon meetings to the angel visits to Jacob ; for as a 
prince had he " power with God, and with men, and 
did prevail." It would be impossible, Mr. Carey has 
said, to describe these " seasons of refreshing from the 
presence of the Lord ;" his depth of pathos, his sanctity 
of manner, his pure benevolence, his glowing aspi- 
rations while attempting to lead his young friend, as 
a student and a missionary, to u comprehend that love 
of Christ which passeth knowledge." On a sudden, 
by the scintillations of his great mind, some new 
thought or conception would be awakened — 

" By new and swift degrees npkindling with his theme, 
Still flashed new ardours forth/ 5 

and then verbal utterances would follow, transcending 
in power and in imagination any language of a com- 
mon man, even in profound discourse. 

But the kettle, when this was exhausted — ! Mr. 
Carey, in relating it, would say, "I was inwardly 
vexed and disappointed. While this went on, the 
discourse would continue; he would then say, "Is 
the tea done, Sir ?" 

All this time not a word was spoken which was 
irrelevant, lest the charm by which Mr. Hall was held 
in a sort of rhapsody should be broken. 



no 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



The reader may anxiously inquire — " Where is the 
red coat now which was to invest the manhood of 
the little boy soldier ?" The writer can assure him 
that it is the veritable coat, notwithstanding that it 
has become a black one. The foregoing history will 
explain how it has become thus changed, and why it 
sank so much deeper into his youthful heart. 

The casual observer of Mr. Carey would not perceive 
any but the black coat ; but on a closer inspection, 
by intimate acquaintance, even this coat w r ould be 
found to have a red lining still. For if the Chris- 
tian grace called virtue means courage, manliness, 
opposition to, and hatred of, all oppression, a 
willingness to u endure hardness as a good soldier of 
Jesus Christ," then will this be found upon him as his 
ornament as well as his vesture, and not unmixed 
either with a strange love for the military profession. 
A further exemplification of the fact of the exist- 
ence of the red lining will appear as we advance in 
his history. But let not this statement be misunder- 
stood; for Mr. Carey was a man of peace and a 
promoter of peace ; yet was he not for peace at any 
cost, or at the time when a just war was needed. 
Like some of our noble ancestors he would have, in 
such times, forgotten that his black coat was not 
a red one. It will be seen, as life advances, that he 
needed all the resolution and ardour which he pos- 
sessed. 



RESIDENCE AT BRISTOL COLLEGE. Ill 



A singular branch of the Carey family this ! Mr. 
Carey's eldest and only surviving brother, Peter, was 
alike inspired with the missionary enterprise. He 
enlisted in a regiment going to India purposely to 
have an opportunity of seeing his uncle at Serampore ; 
and he accomplished his wish too. He was in the 
upper provinces with his regiment when he met with 
an accident which proved fatal, just at the time that 
his uncle was about to purchase him a commission in 
the army. He was a brave fellow, and one would 
hope a Christian too. He was named after his great- 
grandfather, the former schoolmaster of Paulerspury, 
whose gravestone may be seen in the churchyard of 
this village. When the writer saw it some years 
since, in company with Mr. Carey, it had so softened 
its way down into the soil as almost to be hidden by 
the grass ; but the name is still legible. 

As far as human perception goes, it seems evident 
that Eustace would have had another sort of destiny 
had his health been robust, and his visits to his 
aunts, — whose souls were set on missions both to 
the heathens at home and those abroad, — been less 
frequent. But these were amongst the all things, 
the arrangements of an unseen hand, which u work 
together for good to them that love God," and in 
this case, as well as in thousands of others, 

" That which to us confusion seems, 
Is all one beauteous, perfect plan." 



112 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



It has been stated that, before Mr. Carey com- 
menced his studies for the ministry, during those 
studies at Olney, and also at Bristol, he was very 
much occupied as an evangelist. 

To this frequency of giving expression to his 
thoughts and feelings in public, he ascribed, as a 
means, much of his subsequent success as a preacher. 
"When freely discussing the present method of ini- 
tiating young men into the ministry, and its results, 
he has often said, the chief design of colleges, in his 
opinion, was not so much to teach as to train those 
who were preparing themselves for this important 
work. If this be the laudable design of these insti- 
tutions, then may it not be asked, would not the 
various exercises connected with benevolent labours 
and constant preaching be the better training after 
all ; tending, as these would, to the cultivation of the 
heart, and bringing the soul of the student of 
theology into contact with, and sympathy for, human 
nature ? If it be answered, this is already done — all 
the students in our colleges preach. Then this grave 
question follows, if the exercise of their gifts in this 
respect be equal to the requirement, why is this 
training followed with so feeble a result ? In plain 
words, why is the preaching of students so frequently 
unwelcome to the churches ? If they have the 
natural gifts suited to the ministry before they go to 
college, then why is not the training there more 



ON MINISTERIAL TRAINING. 



113 



effectual in its results ? Surely with so much culti- 
vation of the mind, with such acquirement of general 
knowledge ; with the habit of so much close appli- 
cation to study, connected as this study is said to be, 
with the practical use thereof, this is most naturally 
to be expected. If it be replied, " these gifts are 
not in exercise until a college education brings them 
out," then the question would follow, how is it that 
such persons can be at all thought to be those to 
whom God has entrusted the most responsible of all 
duties on earth, that of teaching others, if they do 
not possess these natural gifts before they go to college, 
and this call, amongst others, to the work of the 
ministry. Surely the mere desire to do good will not 
make a man a minister. Every Christian should w T ish 
to do good, but every Christian is not fit to be a 
preacher. If it be urged that all young men do 
possess the natural gifts before commencing their 
studies, then what in many cases becomes of them 
afterwards ? One of two things Mr. Carey thought 
must be concluded, either this, that the training spoils 
the men, or the men the training. There are, ot 
course, exceptions to this result, for Which we thank 
God and take courage. The view taken above is that 
which is taken of ministerial training as a ivhole. It 
would be strange were it not so. Young men gifted 
with a ready utterance, eloquent in thought and 
feeling, the first bloom of devotion to their Saviour 



114 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



upon them, the glowing zeal and ardent buoyancy of 
their first love, in the daily exercise of the most earnest 
affections which they will ever have in this world, — 
it would be strange indeed were it not so. " The 
people hung upon his lips, for it was the language of 
love." A young minister, as well as an older one, is 
a student in every respect of his Saviour's example 
and spirit ; penetrated throughout his entire nature 
with the deepest compassion for the lost, and this 
compassion so prominent in every feature, that he is 
a living expression of Jeremiah's ardent apostrophe, — 
"Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes 
a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night 
for the slain of the daughter of my people/' Surely 
were this the result of ministerial preparation, when 
such are sent as supplies to our Churches, the sentence 
would run from lip to lip, like the electric fluid on 
the wire, Oh, it is a student. But the world has yet 
to learn that theology, as taught at our colleges as a 
science, or theoretically only, is the best training for 
the ministry. 

The writer may venture here to remark, that never 
was there a time, in the more recent history of the 
Church, in which labourers were more needed, and 
in which the ministry was at greater discount, both 
at home and abroad, than now. Perhaps the reader 
may have entire sympathy in the thoughts given ex- 
pression to above as Mr. Carey's. He may also agree 



ON MINISTERIAL TRAINING. 115 

with the writer in asking further, why our young men 
under training for the ministry, should not be 
brought in contact with the masses of human beings 
to be found in many of our great cities. Here, in 
the slums and alleys, and lanes, and streets, are 
founded, colleges without endowment, and subjects of 
study accessible to every one ; and with which every 
student of theology may become familiar. If, in pro- 
secuting the sublimest work on the face of the earth — 
that which brings men nearer to Christ than any 
other employment — they are not more like him in his 
intense sympathy with, and concern for, human nature 
in all its misery, destitution, and sin, then where is 
the power of Christianity to be found ? He, brother 
to otir souls became ; he carried all our sorrows ; he, 
" when he saw the multitude, was moved with com- 
passion towards them, because they fainted and were 
scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." This 
was divine love ; love so deep, so tender, who shall 
describe it ! Now the c f great world of London 
contains, nine times as many souls as the most ex- 
tensive divisions of the French empire ; and it houses 
upwards of a quarter of a million more souls than any 
one county in Great Britain. Besides, this population 
of the British metropolis exceeds by some five hundred 
thousand persons that of the whole of Hanover, or 
Saxony, or Wurtemburg, whilst the abstract portion 
of its people congregated on the Middlesex side of 

i 2 



116 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



the river, outnumbers the entire body of individuals 
included in the Grand Duchy of Baden."* Here is 
work for every hand and heart that is on the side of 
Christ in the metropolis. To our city missionaries, 
how great is our debt of gratitude ? But surely 
the chief of these messengers of mercy, open air 
preachers and domiciliary visitors will be found to 
be the young men at our colleges, who are preparing 
for the ministry ; here learning to know the human 
mind, to deal with that which is so delicate, yet so 
involved ; which has its ten thousand winding paths, 
or outlets from God and from truth. However skilled 
in the use of his own powers, in the knowledge, 
too, which he has acquired of God through the revela- 
tion which he has given of himself in his Word, and 
in the great salvation ; it must ever be remembered 
that there is adaptation of truth to human need, 
which he must acquire as a student of human nature. 
It may be replied, this he will learn through his own 
experience, his own heart being a mirror in which 
other hearts may be seen. To this it may be said, 
the experience of his own heart is but one turn of 
the kaleidoscope — the heterogeneous mass within 
never again presenting on the spectrum the same 
specific form which he has just seen. He may go on 
for a century, using his own mind, turning this in- 
strument, and never will the same form present itself. 
* Mayhew. 



ON MINISTERIAL TRAINING. 



117 



The manner in which truth adapts itself to one mind, 
so as to present a medium through which it shall 
behold beauty and order, where there would other- 
wise be seen only a chaos of mingled evil influences 
and disorder, is no reason why it should so adapt itself 
in another. There are endless views and endless 
adaptations which are required to meet mind under 
all its various and most singularly assumed forms 
of thought and feeling. "Jesus knew their 
thoughts." The Saviour had this by right of his 
divine nature; but by the ambassador of Christ 
it must be acquired by intercourse and obser- 
vation; so that the study of mankind must be a 
main branch of preparation for the ministry. Now, 
how can this be done but by becoming familiar with 
the great mass of living human minds. The study of 
dogmatic theology, apart from this, must be ever in- 
effectual in its attempts to answer the great purposes 
of the Christian ministry. It is like a person who 
should be a professor of music, w^ell informed as to all 
that regards it as a science, skilful in its composition, 
graceful and expressive in his arrangement ; moreover, 
one who possesses a strong passion for music, and is 
in every sense as he should be, a musician, except 
that he has no knowledge of a musical instrument 
of any kind (could such a case be possible), and 
therefore has no mechanical skill in execution ; no 
ability to play and to express the music which he 



118 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



has written. This would be a sorry case for any 
musician to be in, and it is equally so for the preacher. 
Now, it is said there is music in every soul of man. 
If there be, we have at hand the common chord, or at 
least the key-note in which the music is set. Telling 
a dying man in the slums of our great city that he 
is a sinner, and must repent, will be taking the rod 
by the wrong end, and it will become a serpent ; but 
tell him that God pities him, that there is love and 
mercy for him, and for the vilest. Pity ! mercy ! 
These are strange sounds in his ears, who has never 
had any mercy on himself. This is becoming brother 
to his soul. But the cut and dried sermon of the 
lecture-room, the logical premises and their deductions 
will be as impressive as straws thrown at the whirl- 
wind, or pebbles at the billows of the raging sea. It 
was said by some one to Dr. Cone of America that 
the man who read six hours a day, and studied two, 
should be his minister. Dr. Cone replied, that the 
man who read two hours and thought six, should be 
his minister ; the writer would venture this remark, 
at least, as to students for the ministry, that the man 
who should study as many hours as he pleases, and who 
should visit and preach six hours, in the destitute 
parts of London, would be the man for any sphere of 
ministerial labour, and for any place. It is warm- 
hearted, vigorous, practical address which we now 
want to supply, under God, life to the languishing 



ON MINISTERIAL TRAINING. 



119 



Churches, and missionary effort to the perishing 
nations. Were these more numerous, the closing 
paragraphs of the Baptist Missionary Report for this 
year would not cast so awful a reflection on the pro- 
fessing Church. The appalling clouds of gloom, 
which rest over every section of the Church of Christ 
would begin to part. While ministers are preparing 
for the ministry, through one medium, that of study 
and books, myriads are languishing and perishing 
for want of the waters of life. What is to be done ? 
The professing Churches must humble themselves 
before God, lest the glory should depart from them, 
and God take another method of spreading his own 
truth. 



CHAP. VI. 



DESIGNATION SERVICE — VOYAGE. 

" The youth who daily farther from the east 
Must travel, still is Nature's priest, 

And by the vision splendid 

Is on his way attended. 
At length the man perceives it die away, 
And fade into the light of common day. 55 

The early grey of morning in the dim horizon of 
infancy — the rosy fringes of the clouds in the eastern 
sky of boyhood — and the full-orbed, unclouded sun- 
rise of youth, have now passed away from the vision- 
ary hemisphere of this life-day for ever ! 

No longer is the task that of standing to look 
towards the land of the morning, wishful to know 
more of that country from whence it comes, which is 
very far off ; but now turning from the playful open- 
ing day, and losing sight of that sky which has been 
hitherto so serene and calmly bright, we must prepare 
for a task both arduous and self-denying ; not only for 
"journeying farther from the east," but for advancing 
noon, with its full-tide flood of light and heat. A 
weary land, truly this, to which we travel, and one on 
which a vertical sun pours down its streams of liquid 
fire. Yet even here it is that the Saviour becomes to 



DESIGNATION SEE VICE. 



121 



all who trust in Him as " the shadow of a great rock 
in this weary land ?' and here it is also that " over 
every dwelling-place of his saints he spreads a taber- 
nacle for a covert from storm and from rain." Hence 
manhood is never "common day" (as our lines have 
just suggested), to him on whose soul the u Sun of 
Righteousness rises with healing in his beams." His 
noon is above the brightness of the sun — it is Christ 
in him the hope of glory. 

Mr. Carey had only one session at Bristol College. 
It is evident, from the progress which he here made 
in classical and other knowledge, that he must have 
been, for some years past, a close and successful stu- 
dent. It is also apparent that he had had his eye 
long directed towards the preparation of himself for 
that important work into which he now enters with 
his whole soul. 

In the autumn of 1813 he left Bristol College, and 
found that arrangements were being made for his 
departure to India in the early spring of the follow- 
ing year. 

It is said by a relative of Mr. Carey to have been 
his intention, when first giving himself to missionary 
work, to go out unmarried. This intention was, how- 
ever, subsequently changed. 

An incident in reference to this determination may 
be mentioned here. Mr. Carey, very early in youth, 
formed an attachment to one of his cousins, with 



122 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



whom he had been brought up. This was not un- 
natural, for as their pleasures and pursuits had been 
the same in childhood, so, as years advanced, they 
received the same religious instruction, the same ap- 
proving smile from their kind teacher, and the same 
Scripture stories told alike on the heart of each. At 
length it was found that their tastes grew together 
as well as their affections. If India were written on 
Eustace's heart, India was written on his cousin's 
heart, and to India she would go. If more than 
cousinly affection had risen in the heart of the one, 
it was most fully responded to in the other. Thus 
their affections, their tastes, their prospects, their 
devotion to the cause of the Redeemer, were one; 
and all was very suitable, not only in the eyes of the 
young people, but in those of their relations too, had 
they not been cousins. On this account Mrs. Hobson 
took a strong objection to the marriage, and no en- 
treaties would induce her to give her consent to it. 
She appealed to the many unhappy examples of the 
kind which she had seen, and also to her affectionate 
desire for their happiness. The desired union was 
given up long before Mr. Carey went to India. His 
cousin pursued her purpose, and arrived there three 
years before his departure. 

This lady eventually became the wife of a military 
officer. As to Mr. Carey, he, of course, would never 
marry. No ; that was impossible. His mind was 



DESIGNATION SERVICE. 



123 



fully made up to go out single. The good-tempered, 
kind-hearted friend of his childhood, appealed to him 
in her loving manner. — u You know you are loth my 
children ; I can but advise you to do that which will 
be, I am sure, for your ultimate happiness. Take it 
in good part." 

" But, aunt, we both wish to go to India." 

" Yes, I know you do ; but we must do that which 
is right, you know." 

" But I shall never marry." 

"Well, well; we must do one thing at a time. 
We shall see." 

We did see. After this he found a lady at Leices- 
ter, who was to him all that he wished, and to whom he 
gave his entire affection. With all the trouble which 
befell him in India, he was thankful he had not to add 
to it by painful reflection, nor by recalling his resis- 
tance to so much tender affection, and to a parental 
wish expressed with so much determination. As a 
Christian, he submitted himself to this decision with 
much grace and subsequent contentment. On the 
9th December, 1813, Mr. Carey married Miss Mary 
Fosbrook, of Leicester. 

Jan. 19th, 1814, his designation service was held at 
Northampton. The following extract, from the Mis- 
sionary Herald, will give in detail the services of this 
interesting day : — 

"After singing, Mr. Blundel, the pastor of the 



124 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Baptist church at Northampton, read a portion of 
Scripture, and prayed. Mr. W. Jones, lately returned 
from Bengal, followed in prayer. Mr. Fuller then 
briefly stated the object of the meeting as being, not 
so much for preaching, as for commending our 
brother to God by prayer and the laying on of hands; 
and this not to impart authority to him, but to express 
our cordial approbation of him, and union with him 
in the undertaking, and to direct his attention to the 
authority of Christ, who enjoined on his disciples to 
go and teach all nations, with the promise of being 
with them always, to the end of the world. Mr. 
Carey was then requested to give a brief statement 
of his motives for engaging in the ministry, which he 
did, much to the satisfaction of the audience. 

" Mr. Sutcliffe then prayed and laid hands on him, 
in which the brethren present united. 

" After this Mr. R. Hall addressed an exhortation 
to him on the nature and importance of his under- 
taking, with the encouragements held out to him in 
the Word of God. 

"In the evening Mr. Fuller preached from Deut. 
xxxiii. 13 — 16, concerning the blessing on Joseph." 

The remarkable address of the Rev. Robert Hall 
on this occasion ought here to be perused by the 
reader, if he would at all apprehend or appreciate the 
manner and the degree in which the youthful mission- 
ary, and afterwards the stayed and established Chris- 



DESIGNATION SERVICE. 



125 



tian minister, sought practically to exhibit the sublime 
truths therein delineated, and the devout lessons of 
instruction and of admonition which then fell from 
the lips of the seraphic speaker. 

Mr. Carey's .life and labours, together with the 
strength, easy flow, and style of his discourse, were 
a fac-simile of the letter, and an embodiment of the 
spirit, of this wonderful address. And whether, in 
pressing home on himself motives for obedience, or 
for the due exercise of his faith and hope in his subse- 
quent career, his attention was directed to the word and 
works of the Great Master himself, or to the advice 
herein given by this his servant, — Christ being in each 
instruction the All in All,— the result was the same. 

Of such an appeal to the heart and conscience, — to 
all that a renewed soul holds precious, both for time 
and eternity, — little can be said, it can only be felt. 
And, truly, never could it so well lay claim to the 
latter as now that the phases of the life which it 
almost prophetically delineated, are recorded side by 
side with it, — the real, in bold outline and substantial 
mass, taking the place of the ideal. The writer finds 
no adjectives in the English language by which to 
describe this oration; but it is best known as 
" Robert HalFs address to Eustace Carey." Except, 
indeed, as Dr. Hoby is pleased to call it, the eulogium 
of the latter ; and if so, what must it be in relation 
to the former ? 



126 MEMOIE OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



The writer regrets that, on account of its length, 
it cannot find a place in this volume ; for although it 
has been read again and again in its appropriate place, 
in the works of Mr. Hal], it will now be referred to 
with renewed interest, as connected with Mr. Carey's 
life, expressive as that life is of the manner in which 
he himself sought therein to exhibit its powerful and 
persuasive eloquence. This the reader, who has the 
opportunity of consulting it, will not fail to point out 
for himself, as he peruses the following pages. There 
are some occasions on which the sentiments contained 
in this address are by Mr. Carey clearly defined and 
made prominent, as boundary lines or landmarks in 
his journey through life. These, in their place, the 
writer must not fail to point out. 

On Friday morning, the 18th of February, 1814, 
Mr. and Mrs. Carey went on board ship at Ports- 
mouth, and sailed away from their native land for 
the far East.* The Missionary Herald thus refers to 
the event : — 

e • Mr. Eustace Carey left London on Friday morn- 
ing, the 18th of February, for Portsmouth, expecting 
to sail the next Lord's day. A public prayer meeting 
was held on the previous Wednesday evening at Eagle 
Street, on his account, when Messrs. Newman, Johns, 
Waters, and Tierney engaged in prayer, and Mr. 
Carey delivered an affectionate farewell address from 
* The writer cannot find the name of the ship. 



VOYAGE. 



127 



1 Cor. xv. 58. The savour of this excellent ex- 
hortation will not soon be forgotten by those who 
were present." 

There are no materials in the possession of the 
writer from which to select an account of Mr. and 
Mrs. Carey's voyage. In the absence of such infor- 
mation a few remarks on this trying commencement 
of a missionary's life are selected from Mr. Carey's 
own pen.* These remarks of his were doubtless 
written as presenting the result of his own experience, 
and will show the reader in what respects they were 
in which he sought to follow those requirements of 
his divine Lord under which he had now so unreser- 
vedly and solemnly placed himself. 

" No scene is more trying to character and to tem- 
per than a ship, particularly to young and inexperienced 
persons, such as missionaries and their wives ordinarily 
are, and such as they must be until those of some 
age and standing in the Christian Church embark 
in the work. Great circumspection is desirable in our 
intercourse with fellow-passengers, many of whom 
are of very dissimilar principles and habits to those 
which a missionary is supposed to hold and cultivate. 
A Christian in these, as in all other circumstances, 
should not be deficient in the civilities of life ; yet he 
will find it convenient to put his social tendencies 
under more restraint than is needful at other times. 
* Life of Dr. Carey, p. 105. 



128 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



The close and almost unavoidable contact into which 
you are thrown in the living details of every day, 
without care will originate annoyance and collision. 
Reserve will prove less inconvenient than familiarity. 
The former, although it will make you apparently less 
amiable, will yet throw a defence about you, and 
render insult and encroachment difficult. All alter- 
cation with fellow-passengers upon secular matters 
should be studiously avoided, though the temptation 
to it may be strong. 

"The commencement of a voyage is often the 
most trying period ; and, from the novelty of the pre- 
dicament in which we find ourselves, very difficult to 
be borne. Do not expect too much from ship ser- 
vants. The moment you most require them they 
have ten calls, each one of which is as urgent as 
yours. In bad weather you are not likely to find 
your fellow-passengers bland and courteous. 

" The inconvenience which all share will make 
every one careful only for himself. And, even at 
other times, some will be found, who, though on 
shore they might pass moderately well as gentlemen, 
through their constitutional imp?4,tience, and the 
tedium of a sea life, will be always misanthropic ; 
and whether the wind blow foul or fair, will quarrel 
with a straw. It is preferable to reconcile oneself to 
neglect or injury in such a case, than to risk remon- 
strance or complaint. Not but that a minister will 



VOYAGE. 



129 



meet with sympathy and defence under insult and 
ill-treatment ; yet worldly gentlemen will offer it in 
their own way, which will incur an evil perhaps ten- 
fold more aggravated than the one they resent. A 
Christian minister, being once abusively spoken to 
by a fellow -passenger, was generously defended by 
another; but the resentment of the injury was shown 
bv threatening the offender with a duel. Thus, his 
high-minded friend grieved him a thousand times 
more than his enemy. 

" A missionary will witness much on board a ship 
to shock religious feeling. It will require as much 
wisdom as zeal to resolve how and when to reprove. A 
mistake in either of these particulars may exasperate 
and excite repugnance. 

" Missionaries are generally allowed to conduct public 
religious exercises ; though some captains have been, 
and still are, sufficiently prejudiced and absurd to pro- 
hibit them, judging that, if they take hold of the mind 
of a sailor, they disqualify him in some way, they 
scarcely know how, for duty. Now and then upon a 
very fine Sunday, they think it may do no harm to 
read the prayers of the Church of England. When that 
is done, they consider there is an end of it ; but what 
praying and preaching may lead to is hard to tell. 
But this narrowness and misconception, once so com- 
mon among seafaring officers, are fast wearing away. 
The good that missionaries have effected on their 

K 



130 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



voyage has its living testimony in every part of the 
globe. Better behaved hearers are not to be met 
with through all the gradations of society than sailors 
and soldiers. Their habits of obedience are favourable 
to attention at least, and that again to a correct percep- 
tion of what is addressed to them ; and my belief is, 
according to the means of instruction they enjoy, the 
preaching of the gospel has been more successful 
among them than amongst any other portion of 
mankind." 

In the course of the voyage Captain acquired 

a great liking for Mr. Carey. Some of the excellent 
qualities of a well-conducted missionary so effectually 
pointed out by him in the above remarks, when in 
later years himself writing a missionary's life, were 
sufficiently apparent in his own behaviour to render 
him not only worthy of respect, but also of honour. 
The result of being on these pleasant terms with the 
captain, obtained for Mr. Carey permission to preach 
on board, of which he gladly availed himself; and 
the reader will not be surprised to learn that his 
rather markedly select and polite deportment secured 
for him on the part of all on board a very favourable 
hearing. Indeed, the captain was quite won by his 
agreeable manner; many polite attentions were paid 
by him to Mr. and Mrs. Carey during the voyage, 
and many weeks had not passed before he manifested 
real esteem and friendship for them. He used to speak 



VOYAGE. 



131 



to those on board of Mr. Carey as " my Mr. Carey," 
and when on one occasion opportunity was given for 
the missionary to exhibit the holier tenor of his life, 
and his opinion of an amusement which is the in- 
variable resort of the gay and the irreligious, this 
phrase, u my Mr. Carey," was used by him with a 
peculiar zest. 

" Be a Christian in all company," wrote Dr. Carey, 
from Moulton, to his newly-converted sister Polly, 
the one with whom the reader has, in the fore- 
going pages, been so familiar. She stereotyped this 
advice, and handed it down to her nephew. "I 
am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," said 
the missionary and his Christian wife on board the 
ship. 

Mr. Carey often told the following anecdote as com- 
mendatory of the good taste of the captain. 

a During the voyage there was to be an evening 
entertainment. All the gentlemen and lady passen- 
gers were invited to it, and amongst them the cap- 
tain most politely placed an invitation in my hands, 
for me and my wife. Of course I declined the invi- 
tation, and courteously begged to be excused. The 
next morning the captain took me by the hand, and 
said to me, c How glad I was last night not to see 
my Mr. Carey's black legs going up and down the 
dance/" 

It is said of Mr. Carey by his personal friend, 
K 2 



132 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Dr. Hoby,,* that he is to be classed among those who 
have eminently cc followed the Lamb in the regenera- 
tion" of the world. This is an instance, among many 
others, of his doing so, and of his choosing to set a 
mark of disapproval on an amusement which he 
would at any time and in any place have viewed as 
belonging to the gay and irreligious world. 

The writer does not mean to insinuate here that 
this conduct was something new and wonderful, 
or that it was that which any other minister of 
Christ would not have done under similar circum- 
stances. To make such a statement as this would 
be absurd in the extreme. But, while avoiding any 
assertion of this kind, it may be proper to take this 
opportunity of stating very plainly that he did not 
thus distinguish himself on board ship from all the 
rest because he was indifferent to the relief which 
springs from true social enjoyment. Neither did he 
refrain from any mere sanctimonious deference which 
he paid to his clerical office. 

A strange notion prevails in the minds of some per- 
sons, that religion belongs to a class, and that of this 
class, of course, ministers and clergymen make a 
considerable part. They think, moreover, that such 
strictness as the above " well comports with their 
calling ; and were they consulted about proprieties in 



* Page 93. 



REMARKS. 



133 



this matter, even tliey would advise a rigid adherence 
to official dignity and decorum. 

The persons who make these distinctions are gene- 
rally those who, whether they deem a larger or a 
smaller modicum of religion necessary for themselves, 
take care to have it in connexion with a thorough 
participation of what they call " the pleasures of the 
world." And while they reconcile this procedure to 
themselves, because tliey are not professors of religion, 
they take care, at the same time, to keep a strict look- 
out on those who are. 

Again, there are others who now-a-days ask. as 
the world is so much better than formerly, whj^ should 
Christians abstain from intercourse with it in its 
harmless amusements ; does not such keeping aloof 
give an unfavourable impression of religion to the 
world ? It might be very well when persons profess- 
ing it were separated by a great gulf both in sen- 
timent and feeling as well as practice, but now that 
both parties have been at great pains and ingenuity 
to arch over this chasm, so as to have an easy footway 
to the Church, and, in some cases, into it, there can be 
no need for so much scrupulosity as aforetime. 

Both these parties err in the opinions which they 
entertain of religious people, and if the New Testament 
is to be our only guide, loth parties will be found 
equally wanting in the knowledge of what religion 
really is. Lay Christians are under the same obliga- 



134 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



tions as clerical ones, to come out from the world, 
and be separate, avoiding even "the appearance of 
evil." The office of minister of the Gospel (there is 
no priesthood) brings no more sanctity nor obligation 
with it than that which appertains to the meanest 
member of the Church of Christ (if, indeed, any 
such one can be mean), except that which the Apostle 
Paul enjoins so forcibly in the question, "Thou that 
teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?" and in 
the admonition to Timothy, u Be an example of the 
believers in word," &e. : so that whatsoever is lawful 
for the one is lawful for the other. And, besides, if 
there be no distinction between the Church and the 
world in their social habits and practices, as well as 
in their motives and principles, then how is it to be 
known that I am a Christian at all ? If I am not a 
Christian in all company, as far as the world is con- 
cerned, I might as well not be a Christian at ail, for 
I do not answer the purpose of my being so with 
reference to it. 

While I am not to shut myself away from ordi- 
nary intercourse with the world, so as by my discour- 
teous conduct to produce disgust, neither am I to 
yield to temptation of this kind or any other; for 
then, where is my moral courage in resisting it? 
While I certainly am not to u go out of the world," 
in the apostolic sense of the phrase, for I am to follow 
that admonition which directs me to " use the world 
as not abusing it." 



REMARKS. 



135 



When will the world learn to value real excellence 
for its oion sake, rather than for that which is merely 
official or ceremonial ? That which a minister of 
Christ, or any* other real Christian would do anywhere 
else they would do on board ship. When will they 
learn that the outward conduct of Christians is (or 
ought to be) regulated by the most sacred motives 
and principles from within ; and not because they are 
ashamed to have it seen that they are otherwise than 
religious. That they have a reason for doing this, 
and for abstaining from that, which they have derived 
from the infallible directory of God himself — from his 
written Word. That they do not adopt one line of 
conduct, and lay aside all others, from the cold, calcu- 
lating, commercial sense of propriety, merely doling 
out their religion on public occasions; but because 
they are, in heart and soul, servants of Christ, "bought 
with a price that they may glorify God in their body 
and spirit, which are God's." Moreover, that the 
Christian is this with all his nature, and that the 
mainspring of all that which he seeks to express in 
his life is love to Christ, and the Father through him ; 
— love which is ever widening the sphere of its action 
within him, until it propels its precious influence 
through the whole system of body, soul, and spirit, 
flowing not only through vein and artery, but also per- 
meating every smaller vessel, and making its way to 
the surface of one's being, like the circulation of the 
vital fluid of our temporal life ; of which circulation 



136 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



we know that, while it renews, and invigorates and 
sustains the whole being, itself " is renewed day by 
day." 

But there are persons professing a purer faith than 

that of those just described, who seem, nevertheless, 

to cling to a sentiment which is not very creditable 

to them in these enlightened times. The sentiment 

which assumed the nature of a proverb, and which was 

in much repute in England's darker days, namely, this: 

" His faith cannot be wrong, 
Whose life is in the right," 

seems now to be revived, with this alteration: 

"His life cannot be wrong, 
Whose faith is in the right. 5 ' 

It is true, indeed, that the faith directs and regulates 
the life ; but it is equally true that the life manifests, 
affects, and influences the faith. While professing 
Christians seem now so much better to understand 
their creed, let them take care to " show their faith 
by their works." " We are called unto liberty," say 
some. Truly, but not that liberty which leaves us 
without love to Christ, or which ever permits us to 
" call evil good." 

In the course of the voyage, the ship in which Mr. 
Carey sailed was pursued by a French privateer. The 
reader who has perused the preceding pages, and who 
remembers the remarks about the red coat, will be 
curious to know how Mr. Carey conducted himself on 
this occasion. With all his gentleness, and meekness, 



REMARKS. 



137 



and politeness, of course he retired, the reader would 
judge, from the scene of dreaded conflict. No, indeed. 
The sister attribute of fearlessness he had in com- 
pany with these good qualities. As a soldier's son he 
had plenty of the combatible material within him. 
It was but to apply the spark, and his whole nature 
was set on fire. 

But this doubtful-looking ship is drawing nearer 
and nearer. No time is to be lost. In this emer- 
gency the captain ordered all the ladies below, and 
every gentleman to stay on deck, to arm himself, and 
prepare for the attack. For this he found, to his 
surprise, Ms Mr. Carey more than ready; entering 
into the arrangements with all his might and main, 
and with a zest which was truly astonishing to the 
captain. But, alas ! when Mr. Carey assayed to lift 
his piece, he found himself entirely incapable of 
managing it. The captain, perceiving this, said — 
u I advise you to step down into the cabin." This, 
however, Mr. Carey refused to do. He wished to stay 
on deck, and do his best to help in the dreaded attack. 
Thus was he treated with much more courtesy than 
his friend, Dr. Yates, under similar circumstances.* 
Providentially the ship, after all its threatening aspect 
and manoeuvres, tacked about and veered off. On 
this occasion were some of the thoughts and courage 
of his boyhood brought vividly before him. He used 
to tell this anecdote with great enjoyment. 

* See Life of Dr. Yates, p. 242. 



CHAP. VII. 



THE KELIGION OF INDIA — WHO IS SUFFICIENT FOR 
THESE THINGS? 

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools; and 
changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made 
like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
creeping things." — Bxbi. i. 22, 23. 

As voyages are now so frequent, and the incidents 
which transpire in them so very similar, nothing 
further needs here to be added respecting that which 
the missionary takes to the field of his future toil and 
successful labour. While the ship makes its way over 
the ocean, as thousands of ships have done, before 
landing him on the distant shore whither he is going, 
it may not be foreign to our purpose, or wanting in 
interest to the reader, to take a passing glance at the 
country, the people, and their religion, amongst whom 
the missionary is to dwell. For some knowledge of 
this religion as it now stands is not only needful for 
all missionaries, but for all persons who would be- 
come familiar with the ordinary transactions of the 
people. 

India is bounded by the Himalaya mountains, the 



INDIA. 



139 



river Indus, and the sea. It is crossed from east to 
west by a chain of mountains called the Vindya. 
The country on the north is called Hindostan ; that 
to the south of it, the Deccan. Hindostan is com- 
posed of the basin of the Indus, that of the Ganges, 
the desert toward the Indus, and the high tract 
recently called Central India. The basin of the 
Ganges may be said, on the whole, to be a vast and 
fertile plain. The population of India may be taken 
at one hundred and forty millions ; the total in British 
possessions, ninety-three millions two hundred thou- 
sand. We are indebted to India for many well-known 
aromatics; and the wildest hills are covered with a 
highly-scented grass, the essential oil of which is 
supposed to have been the spikenard of the ancients. 
Many trees supply medicine and yield useful resins. 
Whole plains are covered with cotton, tobacco, and 
poppies for opium. Even roses are grown, in some 
places, over fields of great extent, for Atar, and rose- 
water. The sugar-cane is also cultivated, though not 
to the extent that it might be. 

Mr. Carey said in a missionary speech, when allu- 
ding to these productions, that "we on this island 
needed not to be dependent on slave labour for cotton, 
if we did but know how to use our own resources in 
India. There we might grow cotton enough to 
clothe, and sugar enough to preserve, every individual 
in the United Kingdoms." Large tracts of land are 



140 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



given up to indigo, and many other more brilliant 
dyes are among the produce of the field. 

" There is no country so intersected with rivers, 
furnishing extensive inland navigation. The Ganges 
is a grand and noble stream, about a mile or a mile- 
and-half broad. It enters Hindostan from the moun- 
tains of Tibet, and flows majestically along for 
thirteen hundred miles, when it enters the sea near 
Chittagong, the same place with the Burrampootra, 
a stream of equal size." — Sept. 11, 1801. Dr. Carey. 

The inhabitants of India may be divided into four 
large classes. First, — *"The race of Bengalees, who 
may be estimated at about twenty-five millions. They 
are all idolaters, with the exception of the few who have 
embraced Christianity, or who have learnt our language, 
or who are followers of the Yedant Philosophy. 

"The great hindrance to the progress of Chris- 
tianity among this people is indifference. They do 
not oppose, but say our system is very good for us 9 
and theirs is good for them. 

" The second is a class of men called the Pundits, 
or Literati, and who use what is considered the sacred 
language, — the language of the gods — the Sanscrit. 
Their alphabet is called the Deva Nagari, or the 
alphabet of the celestial city, and comes, it is sup- 
posed, the nearest to perfection of any one in existence. 
To this class belong men of every Indian nation, tribe, 
* Life of Dr. Yates. 



THE EELIGIOJNT OF INDIA. 



141 



people, and tongue. The Sanscrit is to all India ex- 
actly what the Latin is to all Europe.* 

"The third is a class which has been formed by the 
influence of Mahommedanism. They speak the lan- 
guage which is called Hindostanee, or Ordoo. They 
are found in almost every part of India, and, taken 
altogether, are more numerous than the Bengalees. In 
general they abominate idolatry. 

" The fourth forms the population of the upper 
provinces of India, who have maintained their ancient 
religion, after all the inroads the Mahommedans have 
made upon them ; and on this account they are called 
Hindoos, and their language Hindee, or Hindoee. 
These people are in the upper provinces what the 
Bengalees are in the lower, — all idolaters. Their 
language, like the Bengalee, is derived chiefly from 
the Sanscrit, but differs entirely in its grammatical 
inflections. The Mahommedans, upon settling in this 
country, took these inflections and applied them to 
words of Persian origin, so that the difference between 
the two languages lies in the words being from differ- 
ent sources : the inflections are alike." 

" The Hindoo religion is so complex in its nature 
that it is impossible fully to detail its various branches; 

* ee The poetry of the Indians is not a little indebted to the 
genius of their beautiful language. The grammatical forms of 
the Sanscrit are far richer and more varied than those of the 
Latin tongue, and more regular and systematic than those of the 
Greek. 57 — Schlegel. 



142 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



being founded on superstition, all its parts are moulded 
into an artificial system, difficult to unravel or ex- 
plain. The whole family of people is divided into 
four branches or tribes, called Castes. Two of these 
castes are all but extinct ; thus it may almost be said 
that the whole Hindoo nation is now composed 
of Brahmins and Soodras. There are sub-castes, so 
that there are many orders of Brahmins as well as of 
Soodras. By this division of caste, no possible means 
exist for any person to rise in the scale of society ; 
all motives to exertion or mental improvement are 
cut off; no actions, however noble, no discoveries, 
however important to society, would ensure honour 
to a person of low caste; and those of high caste 
lose no honour or reputation by their ignorance and 
vice. Persons of different castes cannot eat, drink, or 
smoke together ; neither can they intermarry nor 
meddle with each other's employment. 

a The Brahmins, though all eligible to the priest- 
hood, yet do not all follow it. Some enter the 
military service, and others become clerks and copy- 
ists. So great is the pride of Brahmins, that they 
claim precedence of kings. Many Brahmins are 
totally ignorant of their own Shasters, and these are 
always the most intolerant exactors of homage from 
the Soodras. Full half of their revenues are derived 
from a pretended knowledge of astrology, and they 
will calculate lucky days, in which the business of life 



THE EELIGION OF INDIA. 



143 



may be transacted. The birth of Brahmins is a suc- 
cessive incarnation of the God of justice, and through 
this benevolence other mortals enjoy life."* "The 
Brahmins are also the lawyers and physicians of 
India; hence the Greeks did not designate them 
erroneously when they termed them the caste of philo- 
sophers" f 

u Their religious books are of two kinds, the Yedas 
and Shasters. The former may be termed their 
Scriptures, the latter, expositions of them. The 
Vedas, as also the Shasters, or commentaries, pretend 
to great antiquity, so muck so y that many Europeans 
have been strangely staggered in their belief of the 
Mosaic chronology by reading them. But it only 
requires a little consideration and research to discover 
a vein of imposition running through the whole of 
their details. They reckon the duration of the world 
by four ages, or jouges, extending altogether over 
about eight millions of years. Now, the gross fallacy 
of this chronology is proved by one of their own sages, 
Munnoo, who says, 'when ten thousand and ten 
years of the Suttee gouge, or first age were past, on 
the night of the full moon, in the month Bhudun, 
I, Munnoo, at the command of Brahma, finished this 
shaster that speaks of men's duties, of justice, and of 
religion, ever instructive/ Yet Munnoo, according 

* Statliam's Indian Recollections, 
f SchlegePs Philosophy of History . 



144 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



to other chronologists, existed in the reign of Darius 
Hystaspes, in the time of Herodotus. The Hindoos, 
like the Chinese, have received these fables, with 
regard to their chronology, with the most abject 
credulity." 

" The Vedas * are a collection of ancient hymns 
and prayers which are supposed to have been reduced 
to their present form in the fourteenth century before 
the Christian era ; but the state of society is described 
by the code of laws or institutes which bears the 
name of Menu. This code is supposed to have been 
drawn up in the ninth century before Christ, and it 
seems to be the work of a learned man, designed to 
set forth his idea of a perfect commonwealth under 
Hindoo institutions. In this code a Brahmin is the 
chief of all created beings ; the world and all in it 
are his; through him, indeed, other mortals enjoy 
life; by his imprecations he could destroy a king, 
with his troops, elephants, horses, and cars ; he would 
frame other worlds, and could give being to new 
gods and new mortals." 

The religion taught in the institutes is derived 
from the Yedas, to which scriptures they refer in 

* For the following information on the present state of 
religion amongst the Hindoos the writer is indebted to the Hon. 
M. Elphinstone's History of India, Ed. 1849. As the passages 
taken from this volnme are not always quoted verbatim, the 
writer does not put quotation marks, but refers the reader to the 
source from whence they are taken. 



THE EELTGION OF INDIA. 



U5 



every page. There are four Vedas, but the fourth is 
rejected by many learned Hindoos. Each Veda is 
composed of two, or perhaps of three parts. The 
first consists of hymns and prayers ; the second part 
of precepts which inculcate religious duties, and of 
arguments relating to theology. 

The Veclas are not single works ; each is the pro- 
duction of various authors, whose names are attached 
to their compositions, and to whom, according to the 
Hindoos, those passages were separately revealed. 

The primary doctrine of the Vedas is the unity of 
God. Repeated texts aver, " there is in truth but one 
Deity, the Supreme Spirit, the Lord of the universe, 
whose work is the universe." Sir William Jones 
gives a learned Brahmin's view of the divine cha- 
racter as presented in the Vedas. " Perfect truth, 
perfect happiness, without equal, immortal, absolute 
unity, whom neither speech can describe nor mind 
comprehend. All-pervading, all-transcending ; de- 
lighted with his own boundless intelligence ; not 
limited by space or time ; without feet, moving 
swiftly; without hands, grasping all worlds ; without 
eyes, all-surveying; without ears, all-hearing; with- 
out an intelligent guide, understanding all; without 
cause, the first of all causes ; all-ruling, all-powerful ; 
the creator, preserver, transformer of all things, such, 
is the Great One." 

The three manifestations of the principal divinity, 
L 



146 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CARET. 



Brahma, Yishnu, and Seva, are mentioned in the 
Yedas with other personified attributes and energies 
of Hindoo mythology ; but not the worship of deified 
heroes. The above three divinities are rarely named, 
enjoy no pre-eminence, nor are they ever objects of 
special adoration, nor has any passage been discovered 
in which their incarnations are suggested. 

There seem to have been no images, and no visible 
types of the objects of worship acknowledged in 
these books. The doctrine of monotheism prevails 
throughout the institutes, and it is declared towards 
the close that of all duties, "the principal is to 
obtain the knowledge of the one Supreme God." 

But while thus maintaining the idea of the unity 
of God, Menu appears, in his discourses on the works 
of God, to have lost sight of the original purity of 
this conception. The institutes seem to regard the 
universe as formed from the substance of the Creator, 
and to propound a vague notion of the eternal exist- 
ence of matter as part of the divine substance. 

In the Yedas, God is declared to be the material as 
well as the efficient cause of the universe. But some 
think that these expressions must not be taken 
literally. The general tendency of the Vedas is to 
show that the substance as well as the form of all 
created beings was derived from the will of the self- 
existing Cause. 

The Creator, under the form of Brahma, produced 



THE EELIGION OF INDIA. 



147 



the heavens and the earth, and the human soul. The 
whole creation only endures for a certain period, 
when that expires the divine energy is withdrawn, 
Brahma is absorbed in the supreme essence, and the 
whole system fades away. 

Man is endowed with two internal spirits, — the 
vital soul, which gives motion to the body, and the 
rational, which is the seat of passions, and good and 
bad qualities; and both these souls, though inde- 
pendent existences, are connected with the divine 
essence which pervades all beings. 

It is the vital soul which expiates the sins of the 
man. It is subjected to torments for periods pro- 
portioned to its offences, and is then sent to transmi- 
grate through men and animals, and even plants. 

God endowed man from his creation with con- 
science, the internal monitor; and made a total 
difference between right and wrong, as well as 
between pleasure and pain, &c. 

He then produced Vedas for the due performance 
of the sacrifice ordained from the beginning.* The 
practical part of religion may be divided into ritual 
and moral. 

The most important ceremonial is the investiture 
with the sacred thread, which must not be delayed 
beyond sixteen for a Brahmin. This great ceremony 
is called the second birth, and procures for those who 

* Life of Dr. Yates. 
L 2 



148 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



are admitted to it the title of " twice-born men/' by 
which they are always distinguished throughout the 
code. It is on this occasion that the persons invested 
are taught the mysterious word 6m, and the gayatri, 
which is the most holy verse of the Vedas, which is 
enjoined in innumerable parts of the code to be re- 
peated either as devotion or expiation ; and which, 
indeed, joined to universal benevolence, may raise a 
man to beatitude, without the aid of any other re- 
ligious exercise. This mysterious text has been well 
ascertained by learned Europeans, and is thus trans- 
lated by Mr. Colebrook : — " Let us meditate the 
adorable light of the Divine Ruler ; may it guide our 
intellects/' 

" The principal changes in religion since Menu's 
time, are — 1st. The neglect of the principle of Mo- 
notheism. 2nd. The neglect of some gods, and the 
introduction of others. 3rd. The worship of deified 
mortals. 4th. The introduction of sects, and the 
attempt to exalt individual gods at the expense of 
the others. 5th. The doctrine, that faith in a par- 
ticular god is more efficacious than contemplation. 
6th. The use of a new ritual instead of the Vedas, 
and the religious ascendancy acquired by the monas- 
tic orders." 

This writer continues — " There is indeed no country 
where religion is so constantly brought before the eye 
as in India. Every town has temples of all descrip- 



THE EELIGION OF INDIA. 149 

tions, from a slirine which barely holds the idol, to a 
pagoda with lofty towers, and spacious courts, and 
colonnades. To all these, votaries are constantly re- 
pairing, to hang the image with garlands, and to 
present it with fruits and flowers. The banks of the 
river, or artificial sheet of water, for there is no town 
that is not built on one or other, have often noble 
flights of steps leading down to the water, which are 
covered, in the early part of the day, with persons 
performing their ablutions, and going through their 
devotions as they stand in the stream. In the day, 
the attention is drawn by the song, or by the grace- 
ful figures and flowing drapery of groups of women, 
as they bear their offerings to a temple." 

Besides these, there are numerous processions, with 
drums and music, and parties of Brahmins, who attend 
the ceremony of some particular holiday. These carry 
with them images borne aloft, and representations of 
temples; the latter are always found in inhabited 
places, and amongst the trees on the banks of rivers. 
"Even in the wildest forests, a stone covered with 
vermilion, with a garland hung on a tree above it, or a 
small flag fastened among the branches, apprises the 
traveller of the sanctity of the spot. Troops of pilgrims 
and religious mendicants are often met on the road. 
The mendicants are distinguished by the dress of 
their order, and the pilgrims by bearing some symbol 
of the god to whose shrine they are going, and shout- 



150 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ing out his name or watchword whenever they meet 
with other passengers." 

"The objects of adoration are no longer the same. 
The theism inculcated by the Vedas as the true faith, 
in which all other forms were included, has been sup- 
planted by a system of gross polytheism and idolatry ; 
and, though nowhere entirely forgotten, is never 
steadily thought of, except by philosophers and 
divines." 

The followers of the Vedas, though they attained 
some knowledge of the true God, and were anxious to 
diffuse their own doctrines, yet like the philosophers 
of Greece, they did not interfere with the popular 
belief. "The consequence was such as was to be 
expected — the ancient polytheism kept its ground, and 
was further corrupted by the introduction of deified 
heroes, who have, in their turns, superseded the 
deities fcom whom they were supposed to derive their 
divinity." 

"The scriptures of this new religion are the 
Paranas, all alleged by their followers to be the works 
of Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas ; but in reality 
composed by different authors between the eighth 
and tenth centuries." 

Although still professing belief in a Supreme Being, 
the reader will learn from the following missionary 
records that this belief has no foundation whatever 
in the minds of Hindoos ; but that this which 



THE RELIGION OF INDIA. 



151 



they boast of inheriting from their fathers, from im- 
memorial time, whatever it might have been then, 
is now a belief in pantheism, the universe and the 
Deity being one and the same. Thus, every object 
in creation, from the " twice-born man" to the 
meanest insect, is a part of the Deity. 

" Their gods and goddesses are numberless. Some 
accounts, with the usual Hindoo extravagance, make 
the deities to amount to 300,000,000, but some of 
these are ministering angels in the different heavens, 
or other spirits, who have no individual name or cha- 
racter, and who are counted by the million." 

The triad, Brahma, Vishnu, Seva— the creating 
principle, the preserving principle, the destroying 
principle — with their corresponding female divinities, 
are believed to exercise distinct and divine functions, 
and are therefore entitled to worship. The supposed 
unity of these "may be resolved into the general 
maxim of orthodox Hindoos, that all the deities are 
only various forms of one Supreme Being." 

The incarnations and wonderful doings of these 
three deities do not hold the same prominent place 
in the Hindoo religion that they once did, nor is their 
worship so great a matter of interest and duty as 
formerly. 

Rama and Krishna are deities whose claims, in 
Hindostan at least, have eclipsed those of their pre- 
decessors. 



152 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Rama is identified with Vishnu by the superstition 
of his admirers. He was a king of Oude, and almost 
the only person mentioned in the Hindoo traditions 
whose actions have something of an historical charac- 
ter. He is represented in his natural form, and is an 
object of general adoration.* But in this respect he 
falls far short of Krishna, another deified mortal, whose 
pretensions are by no means so obvious either as a 
king or a conqueror. He was born of the royal 
family of Muttra, on the Jumna, but brought up by 
a herdsman in the neighbourhood, who concealed him 
from a tyrant who sought his life. As he advanced 
in years he achieved innumerable adventures. 
Krishna is the greatest favourite with the Hindoos of 
all their divinities. "The bright Krishna becomes 
the centre of innumerable legends. He is felt to be 
the true form of the divine deliverer.-" f 

Three-fourths of the population of Bengal worship 
goddesses, and most of them Devi. Kali, the 
patroness of murder, makes strangling a virtue. 

" The most singular anomaly in the Hindoo religion 
is the power of sacrifices and religious austerities. 

" Through them a religious ascetic can inflict the 
severest calamities, even on a deity, by his curse ; and 
the most wicked and impious of mankind may acquire 

* Rama is everywhere revered. His name is twice repeated 
in the ordinary salntation among all classes of Hindoos, 
-j- Maurice's Lectures. 



THE RELIGION OF INDIA. 



153 



such an ascendancy over the gods as to render them 
the passive instruments of his ambition, and even to 
force them to submit their heavens and themselves to 
his sovereignty. Indra, god of the air and of the 
heavens, on being cursed by a Brahmin, was hurled 
from his own heaven, and compelled to animate the 
body of a cat. But the same objects which were for- 
merly extorted by sacrifices are now to be won by 
faith." 

As to the future state, they believe in the transmi- 
gration of souls. Between their different stages of 
existence, they will, according to their merits, enjoy 
thousands of years of happiness in some of the heavens, 
or suffer torments of similar duration in some of their 
still more numerous hells. The most wicked man after 
being purged of his crimes by ages of suffering, and by 
repeated transmigrations through animals and plants, 
may enter into heaven, and even attain the highest 
reward of all the good, which is incorporation in the 
essence of God. Their description of the future state 
of bliss and penance is spirited and poetical. The 
good, as soon as they leave the body, proceed to the 
abode of Yama, through delightful paths, under the 
shade of fragrant trees, among streams covered with 
lotos. Showers of flowers fall on them as they pass ; 
and the air resounds with hymns of the blessed, and 
the still more melodious strains of angels. 

The passage of the wicked is through dark and 



154 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



dismal paths; sometimes over burning sand, some- 
times over stones that cut their feet at every step. 
They travel naked, parched with thirst, covered with 
dirt and blood, amidst showers of hot ashes and burn- 
ing coals. They are terrified with horrible apparitions, 
which fill the air with their shrieks and wailings. 

Such is Hindooism in theory. What shall we find 
it in its practical working ? A missionary writes,* 
"The whole system of Hindooism is the most licentious 
and impure it is possible to conceive ; so much so, that 
many rich men, who are very depraved, cannot but 
admit that it is too gross to be fully supported. The 
writings of the Hindoos, every class of them, even their 
works on ethics, are full of abominable allusions and 
descriptions ; so that they (the Hindoos) are what they 
were ages ago, a people unrivalled for impurity. 
Many parts of the works called the Lunas can never 
see the light. But what is manifold more atrocious, 
the object of worship appears as the personification of 
sin itself. And, as might be expected, the priests and 
the religious mendicants, under this profligate sys- 
tem, are the very ringleaders in crime." 

The following striking testimony to the horrors of 
Hindoo Idolatry is borne by the Rev. R. Hall, in his 
address to Mr. Carey : — 

" In India Satan maintains an almost undisputed 
empire, and the powers of darkness, secure of their 
* Mr. Statham. 



THE RELIGION OF INDIA. 



155 



dominion, riot and revel at their pleasure, sporting 
themselves with the misery of their vassals, whom 
they incessantly agitate with delusive hopes and fan- 
tastic terrors, — while few efforts have been made to 
despoil them of their usurped authority. 

et You will witness with indignation that monstrous 
alliance betwixt impurity and devotion, obscenity and 
religion, which characterizes the popular idolatry of 
all nations, and which, in opposition to the palliating 
sophistry of infidels, sufficiently evinces it to be what 
the Scriptures assert — the worship of devils, not of 
God. 

" For a nation to change their gods, is represented 
by the highest authority, as an event almost unpa- 
ralleled : and if it be so difficult to induce them to 
change the mode of their idolatry, how much more to 
persuade them to abandon it altogether ! Idolatry is 
not to be looked upon as a mere speculative error, 
respecting the object of worship, of little or no prac- 
tical efficacy. Its hold upon the mind of a fellow- 
creature is most tenacious, its operation most exten- 
sive. It is a corrupt practical institution, involving 
a whole system of sentiments and. manners, which 
perfectly moulds and transforms its votaries. It 
modifies human nature in every respect under which 
it can be contemplated, being intimately blended and 
incorporated with all its perceptions of good and evil, 
-—with all its infirmities, passions, and fears. In a 



156 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



country like India, where it has been established for 
ages, its ramifications are so extended as to come 
into contact with every mode and every incident of life. 
Scarcely a day, or an hour passes with an Hindoo in 
which, by the abstinences it enjoins, and the ceremonies 
it prescribes, he is not reminded of his religion. It 
meets him at every turn, presses on him like the 
atmosphere on all sides, and holds him by a thousand 
invisible chains. By incessantly reminding him of 
something he must do, or something he must forbear, 
it becomes the strongest of his active habits. 

" Instead of considering the most detestable species 
of idolatry as so many different modes of worshipping 
the One Supreme, agreeable to the jargon of infidels, 
you will not hesitate to regard them as an impious 
attempt to share his incommunicable honours; as com- 
posing that image of jealousy which he is engaged to 
smite, confound, and destroy." 

To this people the Christian missionary goes, with 
no weapon but the sword of the Spirit, and no 
efficiency but that which he derives from God himself. 
How pre-eminently must he, who is fitted by grace 
for this work, possess the spirit of power, and of love, 
and of a sound mind ! If such be the practical work- 
ing of this religion, and its influence over the myriads 
of human souls in India, what must that life be which 
has to be adapted to it, namely, the life of the mis- 
sionary which we have to contemplate ? If so stupen- 



THE RELIGION OF INDIA. 



157 



dous the strongholds of idolatry, how stupendous must 
the means be which are employed in their demolition. 

Truly is the missionary's life a life of faith in the 
Son of God ; the earliest sign of this life, — the very 
first imperfect manifestation of itself, without any 
breach of charity,— seems to be far advanced beyond the 
point at which the majority of professing Christians 
stop, become faint, droop, and die. And what is this 
advanced point ? It is that which the first missionary 
to the Gentiles so eloquently expressed, when he said, 
" I count not my life dear unto myself. I am willing 
not only to be bound, but to die at J erusalem, for the 
name of the Lord Jesus." 

If this be the first exulting bound into its true 
being of missionary life, what will its farther develop- 
ment be ? This the reader must ascertain for himself 
now that the missionary has reached the burning plains 
of India, and has begun there to unfold amongst 
the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
He will then learn from this instance, as well as from 
many others, that the power which the Gospel is 
capable of exerting on the minds of men sunk in the 
grossest ignorance and idolatry is " the power of 
God to salvation;" presenting a palpable evidence of 
the truth of Christianity, and of the presence of the 
Great Head of the Church with his people, according 
to his word of promise, " Lo, I am with you,, alway, 

EVEN TO THE END OE THE WOULD. AMEN 1" 



158 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



And what is the first lesson which is learnt when 
this life is in full vigour ? It is a lesson which fell 
from the lips of the Great Teacher and Exemplar of all 
missionaries, and is this, " If any man will come after 
me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and 
follow me. He that forsaketh not all that he hath 
cannot be my disciple."" These are " hard sayings, 
who can bear them ?" Yes, they are hard; but; as 
descriptive of a fact, they are true to the life. He 
who was the Truth, as well as the Way, could not 
demand less than that which would secure the result 
to his followers which he proposed to them, namely, 
that of complete discipleship to him. The mis- 
sionary who has, with his very first struggle into 
spiritual life, to " endure hardness as a good soldier of 
Jesus Christ/* is prepared for these "hard sayings/ 5 
and when his Divine teacher puts the question — cc Will 
ye also go away/ ; his heart is prepared to respond with 
all the energy of its renewed life, {t Lord, to whom 
shall I go, Thou hast the words of eternal fife/ j 

Such is the first life-lesson, and such is the com- 
mencement of his life of faith ; but this is not all. 
The trial of his faith is close at hand, and almost 
immediately succeeds the exercise of the faith itself. 
The " hard saying^ is now practically to be under- 
stood. Home, and friends, and almost all the ordi- 
nary comforts of this life, are forsaken. The tent is 
pitched in the desert, far away from civilized society ; 



THE RELIGION OF INDIA. 



159 



in the desert, not in the sense of separateness from 
human beings, but in that of a wilderness, a chaos of 
senseless, vile idolatrj^ and gross darkness. Of 
idolatry which is not only living and breathing, but 
which is at the time of which we are writing both 
vigorous and buoyant with its first young life. A 
huge and loathsome form this, which has grown up 
from the depths of the soul's innermost darkness, and 
which has coiled itself upward, and tightened itself 
around all the vitals of man's inner nature ; twisting 
itself crookedly into every corner and around every 
thing that hath life within the soul. Thence it 
crawls without the man, and, as a hydra-headed, 
amphibious monster, lifting itself up out of this sea 
of blackness and darkness, it beholds the light of day, 
and gazes with its flaming eyes at God's fair heavens, 
w T hich, as it cannot measure nor pollute with its 
slimy track, it bows and cringes to the earth as 
a beast of the nethermost regions,—" born from 
beneath." Here entwining and coiling itself down- 
ward over the whole of man's fair form, it makes him 
gay with its leprous spots, and bright with its scales 
of Satanic fire. 

Prolific as an eastern tree, with which every reader 
is familiar, these systems of idolatry in the East have 
grown up and down, touching this green earth, and 
drinking up, like a leviathan, its strength and 
nurture with their ten thousand thousand offshoots, 



160 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



until the whole of man's being and the whole of 
God's resplendent works within their reach are 
covered with a web of the strongest and most deter- 
mined reticence. 

But dust is this serpent's meat ; and were its heads 
multiplied with every fresh growth, and as numerous 
as were the leaves on the trees of a primeval forest, 
their doom would be certain and their destruction 
sure : for te God shall bruise Satan under your feet 
shortly.'' Christ " must reign until he hath put all 
enemies under his feet." 

But ere this takes place what is the missionary to 
do ? How can he approach to, and deliver the soul of 
his fellow-creature as it lies prostrated and helpless 
under this meshed-work, with its myriads of knots 
and all but closed-up interstices ; shut up in its coils 
of confusion, with no opening from which the eye can 
look abroad on the works of creation without looking 
through this infernal web ? What is the missionary 
to do, conscious as he is of his own weakness and 
entire insufficiency to effectuate such a deliverance ? 
His direction is plain, it is simply this — " Prophesy, 
son of man ! He that hath my word, let him speak 
my word faithfully." This is his commission, this is 
his only weapon, wielded as it is by faith and prayer. 
He obeys. The reader knows the result. Again is 
the text apposite which has been before quoted in 
this volume — " My doctrine shall drop as the dew." 



THE EELIGION OF INDIA. 



161 



Watch how the word insinuates itself through those 
all-but closed up apertures ; how it distils as the rain, 
and lets itself fall down to the very quick of that 
nature so debased, whence it permeates the whole 
being, and springs into distinct life and fruitfulness, 
even as the grass under the showers that water the 
earth. 

In the name of Him whom the missionary preaches, 
these coils of the deadly serpent become as the green 
withs which bound Samson. This depressed, this 
afflicted soul, — this bound and helpless one, reduced 
by cruel idolatry into a condition below the beasts 
that perish, and used by that arch foe as a stepping- 
stone on which to rear his doomed head nearer to 
God's heaven ; this sorrowful one, this crushed, this 
fainting, this dying, — nay, this dead one, — hears the 
command, "Lazarus, come forth." Then the coils 
of the deadly snake are broken, and cast as chaff of 
the summer threshing-floor to the four winds of 
heaven. The almighty voice which has called him 
into this new existence, says, " Loose him, and let 
him go 1" 

This is, doubtless, a stupendous work, and the result 
equally so. It may be asked, does the same effect 
always follow the preaching of the glad tidings ? 
Here, again, presents itself the trial of the mission- 
ary's faith; for he must prepare himself for disap- 

M 



162 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



pointments and discouragements, which are incident 
only to the life of those who forsake all and follow 
Christ. How often that for which he thirsts so in- 
tensely — the salvation of one soul among the heathen, 
— seems to be nearing, yet how soon does it pass 
away, like the mirage of the desert, or like that which, 
to travellers on the sandy plain, so often appears to be 
the silvery, gleaming surface of a cooling lake in the 
far distance, but which is found to be the "quivering, 
undulating motion of that quick succession of vapours 
and exhalations which are extracted by the powerful 
influence of the sun" at noon, yet ever keeping the 
same distance from the longing eye, until the sun 
declines in the heavens, and a veil of mist more con- 
fusing enwraps the scene in gloom. 

Yet even here it is, engaged in this stupendous 
work with all its attendant discouragements and 
failures ;— in allusion to these very times of the Mes- 
siah, and to this condition of humanity, in which 
there are so many labouring in different parts of the 
missionary field, that the prophet Isaiah pours 
out one of his sublimest hymns. It is here, in this 
moral desert, faintly portrayed by the above figure, 
that " the parched ground becomes a pool, and the 
dry land springs of water." It is here, in loneliness 
and desolation, far from all that would refresh the 
sight, and invigorate the heart, where man's works lie 



THE RELIGION OF INDIA. 



163 



in ruins, and, like the old Pagan palaces on the plains of 
Shinar, are as hushed as the golden god of the proud 
Babylonian king which once stood there, which all 
nations, languages, and people were commanded to bow 
down and worship ; w — it is here that, cc in the place 
of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds 
and rushes." These palaces of the great Sennacherib 
buried beneath the soil, are a fit resemblance of the 
moral desolation in which the heathen are found by 
the missionary. Yet let his heart be glad, for it is 
here, about these once costly and decorated stocks and 
stones which man made for himself to worship, lying 
helpless in the earth, and which the Creator has 
P brought down and laid low, even with the dust," 
that God makes for himself a name, and stoops to 
record upon them indications of his own presence. 
Tor when " the wild beast of the desert cries to the 
wild beast of the island," and goes at large, then it 
is that " the wilderness and the solitary place shall be 
glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom 
as the rose." Then it is that in the crevices of man's 
idolatrous works, cold and dumb as the metal or stone 
of which they were made, and which possess not the 
smallest nor the meanest amount of life enjoyed by the 
smallest and meanest thing luhich God has made ; — here, 
even, grow the grass, and the kindly moss, and the 
cheery lichen, which amidst unbroken silence, seem 

M2 



164 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



to express grateful ejaculations, and devout soliloquies, 
in praise of the great Eternal."* 

* "Even now the ruins of this temple (Belus), piled in 
immense heaps one upon the other, and which seem as if glazed 
by some raging fire, produce a very profound impression on the 
mind ; and to such a height do they rise that the clouds rest on 
their summit, while lions couch on the walls or haunt the 
caverns below. 

" Here, too, we look for the place where were the hanging or 
floating gardens, as the ancients called them, and which, in a 
country by no means abounding in wood, the Assyrian monarch 
constructed from affection to his Median spouse. 

<; In the very place where the ancient Babylon stood there are 
now immense ruins, to which the inhabitants of the country give 
the name of Nimrod's Castle." — Schlegel. 



CHAP. VIII. 



ARRIVAL IN INDIA — RESIDENCE AT SERAMPORE — 
REMOVAL TO CALCUTTA — WORK AMONGST THE 
NATIVES AND SOLDIERS. 

" Should fate* command me to the farthest verge 
Of this green earth, to distant, barbarous climes, 
Rivers unknown to song, where first the sun 

Gilds Indian mountains 

'tis nought to me ; 

Since God is ever present, ever felt, 
In the void waste as in the city full ; 
And where He vital breathes there must be joy." 

Thus sang the youthful missionary on his way to 
India, and as conducted thither by Him who "hold- 
eth the waters in the hollow of his hand, and who 
walketh upon the wings of the wind." While God's 
presence was his joy, so was the joy of the Lord his 
strength. 

On the 1st of August, 1814, Mr. and Mrs. Carey 
arrived at Serampore in good health. A few days 
after their landing he paid the needful visit to the 
Government authorities, of which Dr. Carey writes 

* These were favourite lines of Mr. Carey's. In quoting 
them, which he did occasionally in a sermon, he always supplied 
the word Providence here. 



166 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



to his sisters : — " Eustace went and showed himself to 
the police. This business was soon over, and reminded 
me of the difference between these days and those in 
which I first came to India." The Doctor might 
well remark the contrast, as Mr. Carey was the first 
missionary who had landed in India after the passing 
of the new East Indian Charter in 1813."* 

Mr. Carey was received at Serampore in the kindest 
manner by Dr. Carey and his colleagues, and was 
invited by them to remain there cc to take oversight 
of the native church, instruct native inquirers, and 
give attentions to such native brethren as were de- 
voting themselves to preaching among the heathen." 
Upon this occasion Dr. Carey affectionately explained 
to him the work to which he was invited, and then 
fervently commended him to the Divine blessing in 
prayer. 

Thus was our missionary welcomed by his devoted 
relative to his home and his heart, and to a share in 
that work which for so many years he had so ardently 
and so successfully prosecuted. Here he gave himself 
to the acquisition of the Bengalee. During his stay 
at Serampore he was much delighted with what he 
saw of his uncle, Dr. Carey, of whom he writes to his 
friend, Dr. Hoby : — " My admiration of my uncle in- 

* In a letter addressed by Mr. Carey to his friend Dr. Cox, 
and published in The History of the Baptist Missionary Society, 
most of the facts will be found recorded, referred to in the fol- 
lowing chapter. 



AEKIVAL IN INDIA. 



167 



creases every day. He has not in the course of a 
whole month a single half hour in which he can, con- 
sistently with his own feelings of the importance of 
his work, relax from the hardest labour. He thinks it 
is high time some one was fixed upon, who should 
without delay begin his studies with a view of suc- 
ceeding him in the work of translation, nor does he 
see any one so likely as Yates." 

In September Mr. Carey became a parent, by the 
birth of a son. In May, 1815, Dr. Carey wrote to 
his sisters : — " Eustace and his wife are tolerably well. 
I think he is better than he was in England. Eustace 
will stay at Serampore, being chosen to make one of 
the missionary family. He is universally beloved." 

About eight months after Mr. Carey's arrival in 
India he welcomed there his friend Dr. Yates, who 
became Dr. Carey's assistant in the work of transla- 
tion, and eventually his illustrious successor. The 
first notice in the periodicals of Mr. Carey's work, is 
that of a visit to Berhampore in company with his 
friend, Dr. Yates. "This place is about a hundred 
miles north of Calcutta, five miles from Moorshedabad, 
and accessible by the river. Here a brigade of troops 
is stationed in commodious cantonments, which con- 
sist of a fine range of buildings on one side of a large 
open lawn, around which are the houses of different 
European gentlemen. A Baptist church has been 
formed in the 14th Regiment, which is stationed here. 



168 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



In January, 1815, it consisted of thirty-four members, 
four of whom were admitted on New Year's day. 
The place of worship built by the soldiers wanted 
repairs. While these were being done, as the people 
and soldiers were inclined to hear, they met every 
night for worship in the open air, in front of the 
lines, the soldiers holding candles in their hands, and 
during the time of prayer sticking them in the sand 
at their feet." 

In July and August Mr. Carey repeated his visit to 
the soldiers here, in company with his cousin, Mr. 
W. Carey. The missionary on the spot, Mr. C. 
Gardener, describes the pleasure they received from 
the visit of brethren Eustace Carey and W. Carey, 
junior : — " Besides Mr. Gardener, who was a zealous 
preacher to the soldiers, there were at this station two 
very able native converts, who were employed daily in 
conversing with their countrymen. Circumstances in 
the church at Calcutta at this time led the senior mis- 
sionaries to consider it necessary that a pastor or 
pastors should reside in that city to take a more con- 
stant oversight of the members there. It appears 
that Mr. Carey and Dr. Yates would have liked to 
settle at Berhampore, for the latter says in a 
letter to a friend : — ft Eustace Carey and myself lately 
proposed to the elder brethren forming a station at 
Berhampore. This was overruled by their inviting 
brethren Lawson and Eustace Carey to occupy the 



REMOVAL TO CALCUTTA. 



169 



sphere of labour in Calcutta; at the same time request- 
ing Dr. Yates to stay at Serampore and assist in the 
translations." 

Mr. Carey's heart was set on being wholly devoted 
to the natives ; and when he found that in Calcutta 
there was no resident European missionary whose 
time was wholly occupied in native work, he did not 
hesitate to accept the invitation now presented to him, 
with this understanding, that, while Mr. Lawson 
attended to the English department, he should be 
devoted to the natives. In September, 1815, the 
senior missionaries report : — " Our brethren Lawson 
and Eustace Carey have chosen Calcutta as the scene 
of their future labours ; and we hope they will be 
made very useful." 

Here was our missionary in the metropolis of 
British India, in " the city of palaces where there 
were at this time, according to his own computation, 
" Eight hundred thousand idolaters, besides numbers 
of Europeans and persons of all nations under heaven, 
the majority of whom were uninfluenced by the power 
and the truth of the Gospel." Here the Serampore 
missionaries had laboured from the time of their first 
arrival, and had succeeded in their efforts beyond 
even the sanguine expectation of their leader. They 
had collected a number of devout persons, and formed 
a church at Lai, or Bow Bazaar, which they regularly 
supplied every LordVday. Besides the services at 



170 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



this chapel, there were two or three others for native 
worship. But, situated as their principal operations 
were, at the distance of fifteen miles from Calcutta, 
it was impossible that they should effectuate a tenth 
part of the work which was demanded by this extent 
of population. 

To Mr. Carey, therefore, appertains the honour of 
being the first resident European missionary in Cal- 
cutta, of the Baptist or any other denomination, who 
was wholly devoted to native work. At this time 
twenty-one years had passed away since Dr. Carey 
set his foot on the soil of British India, and was 
told, by a British and professedly Christian Govern- 
ment, that he must not speak in the name of Jesus 
to the people, nor interfere in any manner with the 
religion of the country. 

From a Review of the Serampore Missionaries, 
published in 1817, we find that the work had made 
great progress during these twenty-one years. They 
say :— 

" On this spot {i.e., Serampore, Calcutta, and its 
neighbourhood,) there are labouring a number of 
brethren raised up in the country, the number of 
whom, blessed be God, is increasing every year. 

" At Calcutta, preaching is continued in the chapel 
four times on the LordVday as usual. In the morn- 
ing, at eight, some one of our native brethren preaches 
in Bengalee. At ten, one of the elder brethren from 



REVIEW. 



171 



Serampore preaches in English. At three, the same 
brother preaches in Bengalee ; and at seven in the 
evening, one of our brethren resident in Calcutta 
preaches in English again. They also preach at the 
jail in the morning, and afterwards in the Fort; 
where in general, there is now divine service twice 
on the LordVday. There is also regularly a lecture 
on Tuesday evening, at the chapel, by our aged 
brother Carey; and another in the Fort on Wednesday 
evening by one of our younger brethren ; and in 
various parts of the town prayer-meetings are held 
twice or thrice in the week. In addition to these 
meetings, our native brethren take an opportunity of 
making known the Gospel occasionally throughout 
the week, either to the servants of some European 
friend, or to such of their own countrymen as 
they can persuade to stay and listen awhile to the 
Word of Life. 

" The number of those who have been baptized at 
Calcutta, since our last review, amounts to about 
ninety. Of these, the greater part have been soldiers 
from the Fort, who have been added to the churches 
in their respective regiments. 

'•The number of brethren, residents in Calcutta, 
who have been brought to a knowledge of the truth 
is, however, comparatively few. 

w Already do we see around us a goodly number of 
Hindoo children, rising up with minds completely 



172 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



free from all ideas of caste, all ideas of Brahminie 
superiority, all attachment to idolatry, all prejudice 
against Christianity ; trained up, also, in a seclusion 
from vice scarcely known elsewhere in Bengal, and in 
the knowledge of the sacred Scriptures. 

" The whole number baptized in these seventeen 
years, is nearly twelve hundred ; a number for which 
we cannot be sufficiently thankful, when we consider 
their value in India, and their situation as scattered 
over so great an extent of country. They comprise 
fourteen or fifteen different nations, including those 
from the various nations of Europe brought to the 
knowledge of the truth in India ; nor do they appear 
to be thus selected without the exercise of the Divine 
wisdom. Their being of different nations seems far 
more likely to advance the cause in this country, than 
as though they had been all Europeans, or all natives 
of India. The Lord is wise in all his ways. Relative 
to the number of churches which these form, if we 
include our brethren in the field, there are now, in 
India and the Isles, scarcely less than thirty. 

" But it is not to the full ripe fruit, to churches 
formed and organized, nor even to individuals who 
have boldly professed their faith in Christ, that we are 
to confine our view, if we wish to form a correct idea 
of what the Lord is now doing here. In a plantation 
recently enclosed from the waste howling wilderness, 
the ripe fruit, the full-grown tree, by no means form 



WORK IN CALCUTTA. 



173 



the only objects of attention; not only are the bud 
and the blossom regarded, but even the tender plant, 
as yet of dubious promise. 

" That the Word is thus operating in the minds of 
many who, as yet, have not avowed themselves on 
the Lord's side, many circumstances incline us to 
believe. 

" May we not, then, pause a moment to reflect on 
what the Lord has already wrought, and the aspect 
it bears towards his pouring forth a future blessing?" 

In taking up the thread of this narrative from the 
time Mr. Carey began his work in Calcutta, the 
reader must be prepared for small apparent results, 
and for those which will not bear to be compared with 
an equal amount of labour in our own country. At 
home, the missionary begins his work after long- 
continued ages of civilization and improvement — after 
the distribution of myriads upon myriads of Bibles ; 
the daily mingling of the population with ten thou- 
sands of professing Christians, and the weekly and 
almost daily exercise of thousands of living voices 
proclaiming to the people the Gospel of God's grace 
and mercy. The reader must, therefore, be prepared 
to learn that the Gospel will not be rapid in its pro- 
gress i*i India, nor its effects those which will be 
likely to strike the attention of persons at home, who 
no sooner hear of a missionary being placed amongst 
idolaters, than they think of persons flocking to hear, 



174 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



and of the most extraordinary results. As Dr. Carey 
somewhat complainingly wrote to his sister — " It is 
news, nothing but news, and most wondrous accounts 
of people being converted, that will satisfy those at 
home. Just as if we could create these things, and 
make them ready to our hand." 

"Were the result of missionary labour that which such 
persons expect, the heathen abroad would no longer 
be under the influence of means, but of miracles. 

"Mr. Carey, are there many converted?" said a 
lady to him, on his return, very sarcastically. 

To this he replied, " Madam, if but one has been 
converted, I should not think my labour, nor my life, 
had I lost it, spent in vain." 

All calculators of missionary results should remem- 
ber that the preparatory work is as much connected 
with the harvest, as if it were the harvest itself. We 
may justly conclude, therefore, that not only " the 
tender plant, the bud, and the blossom," are to be 
considered amongst the fair issues of missionary suc- 
cess, but the work itself which has been performed in 
preparing the soil ready for planting the trees of right- 
eousness and the fruits which are afterwards realized. 

It will be our privilege to stay in India only the 
brief period of ten years, just time enough in which 
to sow the seed that is to yield, in after years, the 
summer's harvest. As well might persons in Eng- 
land who plant their grain in autumn, expect, in the 



DIFFICULTIES. 



175 



stark, cold, dead winter, to see the fields covered with 
golden ears. If, when reading missionary details, 
the amazing difficulties in such a country as India 
be kept before the mind, persons will not wonder 
that so few are converted, but rather, with adoring 
gratitude will ascribe it to the almighty power of 
God that any are converted. At this time it was 
not only winter in this metropolis of the East, but 
hitherto the heavens over its idolatrous population 
had been comparatively as iron and brass. Yet, if 
the droppings before the shower of spiritual blessing 
be not " as a dew from the Lord," giving indubitable 
evidence of the truth of the Gospel, and of Christ's 
presence with his servants according to his word of 
promise, " Lo, I am with you alway then let this, 
and every other missionary book be closed for 
ever, and Christianity be, as so many w T ish it were, 
a fable and a delusion. As the missionary's watch- 
word is, irrespective of all results, "Occupy till I 
come," it is now for us to go forth in faith, with 
heart and hand, as labourers into the vineyard of the 
Lord. The reader must not grow soon weary; for 
the work must be hard digging with the spade and 
the mattock into the soil ; for there was no plough in 
India, when Mr. Carey went thither, with which to 
break up more easily its fallow ground. Thorns and 
thistles it will yield to us in abundance ; these must 
be patiently loosened at the root and then taken up, 



176 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



while the land itself is tilled by the hand and 
watered by the foot as a garden of herbs. Never- 
theless^ we go forth certain of success ; for, u as the 
garden causeth the things that are sown in it to 
spring forth, so shall the Lord God cause righteous- 
ness and praise to spring forth before all the people. " 

During Mr. Carey's earlier residence in India, the 
writer has found it difficult to distinguish his labours 
from those of his colleague, Mr. Lawson. As the 
latter had been in India two years before Mr. Carey's 
arrival, the task seems to have devolved on him, as 
the senior missionary, of recording their proceedings. 
The reader may thus account in these joint labours for 
the more frequent appearance of Mr. Lawson's name. 

Several churches of Jesus Christ were formed 
amongst the soldiers at Fort William. The public- 
services there were very frequently conducted by our 
missionaries; in their absence they were taken by 
religious officers, who were an ornament to their 
regiments. 

Mr. Carey's first preaching, before he had acquired 
the Bengalee, was amongst the soldiers; and it is 
reported that, December 31st, two soldiers " were 
added to the Church by brother Eustace Carey and 
that " the missionaries had also a meeting in some 
part of the city every night in the week." The mis- 
sionaries write — " The soldiers of the 24th Regiment 



WORK AMONGST THE NATIVES. 



177 



formed themselves into a church, January, 1815. There 
was preaching at the jail at seven in the morning; at 
the Fort at six in the evening. On the Lord's-day 
worship four times in the chapels. At eight, in Ben- 
galee; at ten, in English. The congregation from 
200 to 300. Seven have already put on the Lord 
Jesus by a public profession, and their earnest desire 
to hear the Word of God is increasing. 

" The colonel allowed them to meet in the barracks 
for divine worship. They assembled for that purpose no 
less than five times in the week, and the delight they 
seem to feel therein may be seen from a very homely 
but expressive request, lately addressed by one of them 
to one of our missionary brethren : — c Can't you come 
at six o'clock, that we may have two hours at worship 
instead of one/ Two hundred soldiers, or more, 
carry on divine worship among themselves there. 
Brother Gibson, a soldier pastor, whose gifts are very 
acceptable, conducts the worship. 

" Oct., 1815. — Monday night there were more at 
the prayer-meeting than I have seen before, although 
it had not been announced from the pulpit on the 
Sabbath-day. Tuesday evening was so unfavourable, 
as respects the weather, that many could not attend. 
Last evening, at the Fort, I preached to above two 
hundred soldiers, besides others : a great many stood 
on the outside. To-day the soldiers are going to 
petition for a place to themselves. 

X 



j 78 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



f< Last night there was a very full meeting at 
Eustace Carey's. It seems that nearly all the church 
were present. 

a Last night Eustace and I went together into the 
Fort. I suppose about one hundred and fifty at- 
tended. I preached from c Be sober, be vigilant/ &c. 
Some of the brethren of the 24th. Regiment have 
arrived as invalids. They attended worship last even- 
ing. This morning we had a pretty good congrega- 
tion at the chapel, and about forty or fifty from the 
Fort were there. 

" I hardly know what to communicate at this time 
respecting our labour. Tuesday evening, I under- 
stand, the members were very unanimous in the busi- 
ness which was then transacted. The next day we had 
a deputation from the church communicating their 
wishes to us. We accepted of their proposal by word 
of mouth, for I suppose the ceremony of a formal 
letter was unnecessary. 

" Wednesday evening, I understand, the meeting 
at Eustace's was not quite so full as before. But I 
think a place is full enough when there is no more 
room to sit down, which was then the case. At the 
Fort I had a large congregation at brother Daniel's. 

" One circumstance has particularly pleased me 
since my residence in Calcutta : I have found from 
inquiry that three of our young people have, for a 
long time past, been in the habit of carrying' on 



WORK AMONGST THE NATIVES. 



179 



family worship alternately with their parents. This 
night we are to have a prayer-meeting with these 
young people, and any who like to attend in the 
vestry. We had no sooner planned and mentioned it 
than it was highly approved. It will be our constant 
endeavour to lead the young by the hand. 

" Last Sabbath evening, at the chapel, we had a 
better congregation than I have seen lately. I had 
some conversation with a young man, who related to 
me his experience, and whose character seems to be 
very hopeful. 

" I must tell you a little more concerning what we 
are doing. Last Friday evening I had a pretty good 
congregation at the jail. After worship was over, I 
proposed to brother Gordon and others, while we were 
talking, that if every Friday evening preceding the 
ordinance Sabbath were devoted to particular prayer, 
it mi pit be the means of solemnizing our minds. 
They were convinced of the propriety of such a plan, 
and we shall act upon it. If any address be given, it 
will bear particularly upon that subject. Saturday 
evening the vestry-room was nearly full. Sabbath 
morning I went to the jail to preach, and had a con- 
siderable number to hear. They are building a hand- 
some place of worship there. In the evening I 
preached to the soldiers at the Fort. The colonel 
has given them a better place of worship than they 
have ever had before. It is spacious and airy, but 

N 2 



]80 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



still so crowded that many stood without. Our 
brethren tell us that the colonel sent his compL nents 
to the missionaries, and requested them to come to 
the Fort every Sabbath morning to preach a sermon 
to the soldiers, as it would prevent them from walking 
out in the heat of the sun." 

The following is a letter addressed to Mr. Lawson 
on the departure of the 72nd Regiment from Fort 
William : — 

"Nov. 4, 1816. — We with grateful hearts return 
you thanks for the many blessed sermons that we 
have heard from you and your brethren of the 
Mission in this place. We are led to believe that 
your ministry has done much good among us ; it has 
been the means, through the influence of the Spirit, 
of convincing some of the hardened sinners of this 
regiment of the necessity of coming to Christ for 
salvation, and of building up and comforting those 
who have already embraced the glorious gospel of 
our dear Redeemer. Now our humble prayers are 
that the Lord, the King and Head of his Church, 
may grant that while you are employed in his 
service you may have the comfort of his Holy Spirit 
and heavenly grace ; that you may have the peace of 
God that passeth understanding, keeping your hearts 
and minds through Christ Jesus ; that you and the 
brethren of the Mission may have great success 
among the heathen in this country ; that the Lord 



WORK AMONGST THE NATIVES. 



181 



may f M daily to his church such as shall be saved, 
and t\at the time may soon come when the know- 
ledge, of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters 
cover the seas ; when all nations, and kindreds, and 
tongues shall join in one universal song of praise to 
the Lamb that sits on the throne, and crown him 
Lord of all. 

"Now, since it hath pleased the Lord, of his 
infinite wisdom and providence, to call us once more 
to see his marvellous works in the great deep, we 
send this to you as a small token of our gratitude for 
your labour among us since we came to this place, and 
may the Lord reward you a hundredfold in this life, 
and give you a crown of righteousness in that day, 
when they that turn many to righteousness shall 
shine as the stars for ever and ever. 

"Signed on behalf of the church in the 72nd 
Eegiment, " David Long." 

"Nov. 5, 1815.— On the last Sabbath in this 
month four persons quartered in Fort William were 
received into the church at Calcutta by Mr. Lawson. 
Last evening and this morning I preached in the 
Fort to a pretty good number of soldiers. The 
brethren told me last night that every Sabbath 
morning, at six o'clock, the whole regiment is drawn 
up into a square, and divine worship performed 
according to the rules of the Church of England ; 



182 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



and they suppose this regulation to have proceeded 
from the desire which many have manifested to 
attend the means of grace in Calcutta. 

" Our missionary prayer-meeting was pretty well 
attended last Monday evening. Last evening but 
few attended the lecture at the chapel. This 
evening Eustace's room was but half full; Eustace 
preached at the Fort; the congregation increases. 
We have to mourn that our Calcutta meetings rather 
decline, but we do not despond. We see more than 
ever, that all our help must come from God. It is 
ours to labour, and his to bless/' 

" December 15th. — Brother Lawson says — We are 
very low when we consider the state of things at 
Calcutta, where some members have walked irregu- 
larly, for want of more constant inspection ; but I 
hope we shall be able to labour unremittingly. There 
is comfort in trying to advance the cause of our 
Redeemer, even though our attempts should prove 
unsuccessful. We are gratified to see new faces 
occasionally at our meetings." 

"December 20. — This day, the examination of the 
children educated by the Benevolent Institution in 
Calcutta took place, before several friends of the 
charity. It was truly interesting to see the progress 
of these poor children, of six, seveu, and ten years of 
age, who went through lessons of reading, spelling, 
writing from dictation, and accounts, in a manner 



WORK AMONGST THE NATIVES. 



183 



that would do credit to any school in England ; but 
when between two and three hundred boys and girls, 
taken from the poor hovels of Calcutta, stood up to 
sing one of Watts's inimitable songs, and especially 
when these lines occurred, 

cc While others early learn to swear, 
And curse, and lie, and steal, 
Lord, I am taught Thy name to fear, 
And do Thy holy will," 

every heart seemed melted with that joy which 
benevolent minds alone are privileged to feel." 

" Jan. 11, 1816. — Our brethren at Calcutta labour 
with great diligence, and, we hope, not without 
success. Brother Lawson writes thus : — c We are 
going on much as usual at Calcutta. I hope our 
young people are gradually advancing in divine 
things. May they be our joy here, and crown of 
rejoicing in glory. We have set them to work in 
the formation of a society for visiting and relieving 
the poor, which is to be called the Juvenile Charitable 
Institution. They seem to enter upon this with 
delight, and I think it will be the means of uniting 
them together, and of calling forth their gifts, as 
reading and explaining the sacred Scripture and 
prayer are to attend every visit. 

"This morning Eustace Carey and I intend at- 
tending a church meeting in the Fort. Yesterday we 
went together to the Hospital, to see some sick 



184 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



brethren of the 59th Regiment. We thought it pru- 
dent to pay our respects to the doctor before we 
went, and he politely gave us permission to visit the 
soldiers whenever we wished. We found five or six 
brethren, with whom, in a little room allotted to 

brother M , we joined together in prayer. I am 

much pleased with the spirituality and stability of 
these good men. 

" I wish I could communicate to you the news of 
our prosperity in Calcutta. We feel it quite a bless- 
ing that brother Gordon lives so near to us I 

had some agreeable conversation last evening with 
Johans, a young man trained up from the beginning 
in the Benevolent Institution, and have reason to 
hope that he is a pious, humble young man. 

"The two brothers baptized by brother Eustace 
Carey last LordVday appear to be very spiritual 
men. We were at the church -meeting when they 
related their experience, and were quite gratified and 
refreshed ; they seem to have entered deeply into the 
very spirit of religion, and are well versed in the 
things of God. 

"Nipal Singh, one of our native brethren, is 
employed by a gentleman in Calcutta. In a late 
letter, he writes 'that the Moonshee to the Grand 
Jury, and others, are deeply engaged in examining the 
Scriptures/ Many learned Brahmins, the servants 
of Europeans, also hear the Word." 



WORK AMONG THE SOLDIEKS. 185 



Dr. Carey thus writes to his sisters of the sphere of 
his nephew's labour : — 

" Jan. 31, 1816. — Eustace lives in Calcutta. He 
and brother Lawson were, on the second Sabbath in 
this year, set apart to the office of co-pastors with us 
over the church in Calcutta, where they both reside. 
Eustace is a very good preacher, and much 
esteemed/' 

The Herald thus notices their designation : — 
"Jan. 11, 1816. — Brethren Lawson and E. Carey 
were set apart to the pastoral office in Calcutta. 
After a suitable hymn and introductory prayer, 
brother Ward gave an account of the different forms 
of church government, and particularly of that under 
which the church was then acting. This was fol- 
lowed by questions relative to the choice of the two 
brethren as co-pastors, and by a confession of faith 
from each of them. After the laying on of hands by 
the three elder pastors, and the Ordination Prayer by 
brother Carey, he addressed the two brethren from 
Col. iv. 17, and brother Marshman addressed the 
church from Ps. ii. 16. The service was concluded 
with prayer by brother Ward. The whole was in a 
high degree solemn and impressive." 

WORK AMONG THE SOLDIERS. 

The following letter was received by Mr. Carey, 
from Alexander Wedderburn: — 



186 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



"To our beloved Minister, and the Church of Christ at 
Calcutta. 

c - Camp, Jan. 5 3 IS 16. 

"The Church of Christ in His Majesty's 66th 
Regiment sends srreetin^. 

" After so long a silence, we have again been 
induced to address a letter to you to inform you of 
our welfare, and to inquire after yours. 

" We sent two letters when at Dinapore, but re- 
ceived no answer. A few lines from you would do us 
good ; and, indeed, happy are we at any time to have 
a letter from those who love our Lord Jesus. We 
stand in need of advice and consolation, being yet so 
young in the ways of the Lord. 

" We are at present lying near Bullwee, with the 
24th, and have great cause to bless the wise Dis- 
poser of all things for being near them. They are of 
great use to us, both in preaching the Gospel, and in 
giving advice for the better government of our little 
church. We rejoice to inform you that the Lord is 
very gracious to us, both in spiritual and temporal 
mercies ; we have the privilege of assembling in the 
quartermaster-serjeant's tent of the 18th Regiment; 
the serjeant is a well-wisher to the cause, and it is 
our earnest wish that he may become a subject of 
Divine grace. We have, at present, eighteen in com- 
munion, and a number constantly attend. We have 
joined in communion once with the 24th, and, should 



WORK AMONG THE SOLDIERS. 187 



nothing prevent, we intend assembling with them for 
that purpose next LordVday. We receive the ordi- 
nance in the open air, with the heavens for a canopy, 
and surrounded on all sides with a waste, howling 
wilderness. Thus administered, it has a peculiarly 
solemn tendency. Here it is that we are led to feel 
the preciousness of a Saviour, and to bear the troubles 
of this life with patience and fortitude, counting them 
as nothing so that we may win Christ, and be found 
in Him. Yes; Jesus is to us as the Prophet ex- 
presses it — c A hiding-place from the wind, and a 
covert from the tempest : as rivers of water in a dry 
place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary 
land/ We have to lament the fall of some ; of three 
of these we have no hope, fearing they were never 
partakers of Divine grace ; others, we trust, will be 
restored. Two hopeful young men of the Artillery 
are in communion with us, who joined the church at 
Digah, before we left Dinapore. Thus the Lord is 
accomplishing his will, and we are led to say, - Great 
and wonderful are his ways/ As babes in Christ, we 
would earnestly desire the sincere milk of the Word ; 
and truly happy should we be if you could spare time 
to give us your advice, for we stand much in need of 
it. We frequently hear from Mr. Moore and Mr. 
Rowe, and trust the Lord will again restore us to 
Dinapore. We would thank you to inform us of the 
Lord's dealings with the church at Calcutta, and 



188 MEMOIK OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



with the brethren of the 59th. The brethren of the 
24th join with us in love to the brethren and sisters, 
beseeching their prayers for our growth in grace, and 
that the Lord may increase his church." 

On the last Sabbath in March, the missionaries had 
the pleasure of receiving five soldiers into the church 
of the 59th Regiment. The missionaries report: — 
" The Lord has been graciously pleased to incline the 
hearts of others since our arrival, who have left their 
sinful practices, and have been constrained, through 
the awakenings of conscience, to read and hear his 
preached word, which has been the means of adding 
to our communion twenty-one. One of the latter has 
been excluded, and is still living in open rebellion 
against God; another useful brother (John Smith) 
has been discharged from our church, and is since 
gone to England. We have also just received intel- 
ligence of another, who was baptized with the above, 
a useful member, suddenly appearing before his God. 
So that, on the whole, we remain at present, in full 
communion, thirty members. The indulgences shown 
in this garrison have been very great ; for our superiors 
have at all times favoured us in every request we have 
asked from them, and have permitted us to assemble 
for the worship of God in such places as were 
vacant. 

" Our meetings in general are well attended. When 
the regiment is all present, we have from sixty to a 



WORK AMONG THE SOLDIERS. 



189 



hundred, besides others who live in different parts of 
the Fort. We have a few who have permission from 
the surgeon to meet for reading and prayer as often 
as they choose ; this has been of much importance to 
a few individuals who have been for a long season 
lingering in sickness. We have every reason to be- 
lieve that some have died with the pardoning love of 
God shed abroad in their souls, and are now in glory." 

An officer writes to one of the missionaries in 1816 : 
" Since I last wrote to you, what an astonishing revo- 
lution has taken place within me. At that time my 
mind was enveloped in dreadful obscurity; I was 
willing to come to God, but it was in my own %oay ; 
willing to be righteous, at the same time being afraid 
to be over much so, wishing to be both a Christian 
and a man of the world, constantly planning excuses 
in my mind which were to be brought forward to 
brother officers, in palliation of my offences, being 
termed by them a Methodist. It is strange to say, I 
feared the ridicule of men more than the vengeance 
of an omnipotent God, regarding present comfort, in 
the smiles of surrounding thoughtless men, more 
than the salvation of my soul. Little did I think of 
the great and blessed consequences about to flow 
from your writing that account of me to my dear 

friend ; viz., your giving me the character of a 

determined Methodist ; it has proved of very great 
advantage to me, and kept me, through the grace of 



190 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



God, from sliding back into the ways of sin, and caus- 
ing the enemies of God to triumph. Till of late I 
have been an entire stranger to the deceitfulness of 
the heart, and might have remained so, had I not 
been directed to study a book written by Mr. E."* 
on the Christian affections. Much have I learned 
from it, and much more have I to learn by long and 
close study." 

August, 1816, Mr. Carey was introduced to the 
celebrated Hindoo, Rammohan Roy. He visited Mr.. 
Carey, and stayed to family worship, with which he was 
quite delighted. Mr. Carey gave him Dr. Watts a s 
Hymns; he said he would treasure them up in his 
heart. He offered Mr. Carey a piece of ground for a 
school. 

In the autumn of this year Mr. Carey had a 
serious illness. He was mercifully recruited after 
a month at sea. In alluding to this illness, in 
after years, he used to mention it as the one in 
which he became acclimated. During this illness 
Dr. Yates took his place at Calcutta. This con- 
tributed very much to increase Dr. Yates' toil; 
but in this most happy missionary compact, no 
one thought of himself, but each only of the 
other in the daily attempt which they made to bear 
each other's burdens, and to render that delight- 
ful interchange of affection which is so well ex- 
* President Edwards on the Affections. 



WORK AMONG THE SOLDIERS. 



191 



pressed by friendly sympathy and timely aid. A long 
and close friendship now commenced between the 
younger branches of this missionary family. They 
loved each other as persons seldom do in this cold 
world ; and while as to their purse, they soon had all 
things in common, so was it in all other respects 
when help was needed. How often Mr. Carey alluded 
to this and other illnesses of his in India, and re- 
marked, with much emphasis : u We never left each 
other to native servants. If we had not nursed each 
other when ill in India, we should, had that been 
possible, have gone through death many times." 

The following is a specimen of the manner in 
which the first native converts were employed in dis- 
seminating the Gospel in and around Calcutta. A 
few remarks from Mr. Carey precede it : — 

"It has often and justly been remarked, that it 
would be scarcely, if at all, possible to supply a 
European agency adequate to the evangelization of 
the heathen world; and that hence we may infer 
the great importance of employing native preachers, 
and by their means multiplying subordinate stations 
throughout the various regions in which missionaries 
have planted themselves. But two or three things 
should be regarded. First — that the minds of native 
brethren be well cultivated, and sedulously trained to 
scriptural study ; secondly — that the stations should 
not be selected too remotely from those occupied by 



192 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



European missionaries. And, to comfort them and 
increase their efficiency, the European brethren should, 
as frequently as practicable, become their companions 
in their itineraries and labours." 

"April, 1816. — Our native brethren employed in the 
printing-office, in two or three parties, go out on the 
Sabbath to hold conversations, and to read the Scrip- 
tures in the neighbouring villages. We could record 
a number of these excursions, but the chief thing 
demanding attention is, that these brethren perceive 
a happy change in the minds of their countrymen in 
listening to the Gospel. 

" A prayer-meeting was held at the house of 
Govinda, the Christian brother who is translating the 
Scriptures into the dialect of Juya-Poora. Before 
they broke up, an animated conversation took place 
respecting the number of native Christians, and 
persons who had emancipated themselves from the 
caste, at all the stations — men, women, and children ; 
when it was supposed that they amounted to nearly 
one thousand. Rama-koomara added, with great 
emphasis, " haiya-ootila" — a phrase not easily trans- 
lated, but which conveys the impression felt when 
a person has raised a load almost to its destined 
elevation. These evening meetings with our native 
brethren are often very delightful ; in free and cheer- 
ful conversation we taste the pleasure arising from 
seeing the blessed effects of the Gospel on the minds 



tarachund's letter. 



193 



of those who were once the victims of idolatry. The 
progress of the Redeemer's kingdom in India is, of 
course, the principal theme, and reports are made of 
what different individuals have been doing among their 
neighbours. Ahardened idolater among our servants, in 
a late conversation with brother Ward, said, c You had 
certainly, sir, some of the worst materials to work 
upon that men could have, but it is very evident you 

have not bestowed upon them labour in vain 

They are much changed for the better/ We could 
hope that among our servants some fruit will at length 
be gathered. Nearly two hundred hear the Word on 
the Sabbath. The hall is quite crowded; and every 
evening, in the office, before they are dismissed, sixty or 
seventy have the Word expounded to them in order 
by brother Ward, who concludes with prayer. 

" Tarachund, a native preacher, and also a poet, 
writes to Mr. Ward, — c I thank you for your kind 
letter. I am truly sensible that I was born in sin ; 
but through your ministry I hope I have been 
renewed in Christ; in gratitude for which I daily 
pray to God that you may be rewarded when the 
Chief Shepherd shall come. Though I cannot meet 
you at Serampore, I trust I am joined with you in 
the grace of the Redeemer. I send you some addi- 
tional hymns to be printed/ 

" In a late conversation with some brethren who 
had just returned from a visit to Tarachund we were 

o 



194 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



happy to hear of his zeal in seeking the salvation of 
his countrymen ; he has, almost every evening, visitors 
of all castes, to whom he reads and talks on religious 
subjects till a late hour. These visitors smoke from 
the same hookah, and, without hesitation, eat with 
our native brethren ; and a young Brahmin cooks for 
Christians as well as heathens. Tarachund spends 
nearly two pounds a month in promoting the Gospel, 
reserving scarcely any part of his wages for himself. 
He has composed a number of hymns, which we have 
added to our Bengalee collection ; and we find that he 
is writing a pretty large volume on the Gospel. Our 
brethren say, it is vain to expect time for sleep at 
Tarachund's, a large part of the night being spent in 
reading, singing, and pious conversation." 

" May, 1816. — Sebuk-Rama has been much encou- 
raged by a pious officer, lately removed from Calcutta, 
who has enabled him to set up a school in his village. 
His time is chiefly occupied in reading the Word, and 
in visiting the poor of the church. 

"During the past month several of the native 
brethren have gone into the country, in various direc- 
tions, conversing with the people, and distributing 
the Word of God as they went ; they found many 
willing hearers, and some who were quite surprised 
at the wonderful things contained in the plan of 
redemption. 

u Rama-Rutra has been engaged, during the past 



JOURNAL. 



195 



month, in going from place to place to converse with 
the natives, and give away Scripture tracts. He often 
obtained a patient hearing from persons at the landing- 
places, under trees, on the roads ; and some appeared 
to receive the Word with joy." 

a July, 1816. — Rama-Eutra was last month em- 
ployed in Calcutta, and around it : on the first day 
he went to the lodgings of a Burman, where he saw 
twenty natives of Pegue, to whom he gave six copies 
of Matthew in Burman. Some Hindoos, with whom 
he afterwards conversed, said, c W hen God draws us, 
there will be no need of you to call us/ On the 8th, 
Rutra gave away twenty more books to various Bur- 
mans. Seeing a man in another place reading a 
worthless book, he offered him a good one, which he 
accepted, and greatly praised, after reading a part of 
it. On the 9th he gave twenty more books to 
Burmans, and conversed for some time with a person 
who knew both Hindoo and Burman ; this man said, 
c Yes, the Holy One is the true Saviour, for he became 
a sacrifice for sinners/ The next day a man of the 
writer class followed Rutra to the chapel, and asked 
when he could have some conversation with him. 
The same day, in another part of Calcutta, he met 
his former priest, who asked him what kind of a 
Christian he had become ; and here before the priest, 
and about fifty other persons, Rutra gave a reason of 
the hope that was in him." 

o 2 



196 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CARET, 



The following is a letter of Krishna, the first Hindoo 
convert, addressed to a gentleman at Bristol : — 

" The writing of Shree-Krishna Pala : you will 
know my supplicating letter. Through the love of 
God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
gift of the Holy Spirit, we are all w T ell : you will he 
informed of this. More particularly at the festival 
held at Sadoolla-poora, I read the 15th chapter of 
the 1st Corinthians, and explained it in order. But 
the Brahmins disputed about the doctrine of the 
resurrection; and asked, c Are our Shastras then false ?' 
To this I answered — e O Brahmins, hear this compa- 
rison : the corn which you sow is not quickened ex- 
cept it die ; and that seed which is sown, the same 
springs up ; how then can you imagine, that after 
eighty lacs of transmigrations, you will be again 
born in the human shape, and that during these 
births you will be jackals, dogs, &c. How can this 
be? Therefore your own observation devours your 
Shastras. The doctrine of the resurrection is not 
found among you ; but now it is, for the first time, 
made known; and the resurrection, through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, is now published through the 
four quarters of the world. If you believe in the 
death and resurrection of the Lord J esus Christ, you 
will obtain salvation ; but if you do not, in no other 
way, in no other refuge, can salvation be obtained. 
This which I have told you is the true method of 



KRISHNA'S LETTER. 



197 



redemption/ Before many other people I proclaimed 
the doctrine of the death of Christ, and gave away 
many tracts and books. Secondly, at the festival 
of the new moon, in Jishta, at Rama-kela, about 
10,000 people were assembled. I proclaimed in the 
midst of them the news of the death and resurrection 
of the Lord J esus, and gave away books ; but being 
fatigued I sat down under a very large tree, where 
many people came and inquired what the books were 
which I was giving away. I said, Oh, brethren, 
permit me to quote a verse which is current amongst 
you— 

f The Vedas, the sages, the sects, the law-books, 
Are all full of contradictions — 
The way of the Great One, that must be followed. 5 

" Therefore, brethren, who is this Great One ? 
Amongst you there are three sects, the Shaktas, 
the Shivyas, and the Vishnuvus ; but in these three 
sects not a person is to be found of boundless truth, 
compassion, and mercy. Yet in our Lord Jesus 
Christ these three qualities are complete; he is 
the Great One; and therefore I confess him, and 
despising caste, family, and honour, Him I follow. 
He who believes in Him shall inherit everlasting 
life; but he who believes not, must endure everlast- 
ing punishment. After I had said these words, 
some persons objected; but the Mussulmans defended 
me. Others said, ' His words are right, for without 



198 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



perfect truth, compassion, and mercy, no one can be 
a saviour." 

" June 21, 1817. — This spring; brother Tarachund 
writes, in evident allusion to the season of the year — 
c The Lord's garden is filled with singing birds, which 
sing so joyfully the praises of the God of the spring, 
that the hearts of the hearers are charmed. On this, 
March 30, and the last Lord's-day, a boy of the weaver 
caste sang hymns to Christ with us in the presence of 
his father, who seemed pleased, and listened to the 
"Word of God with attention. The same boy, with 
several others, inwardly renounced idolatry. Their 
conduct, both in my presence and absence, makes me 
thankful unto the Lord, who works wonderfully among 
the heathen. One of the brethren has given me 
some money to make a larger house for the children, 
and some wine and candles for our use at the Lord's 
Supper. May w^e have the true spirit of nurses to 
train them up in the words of faith and sound doc - 
trine ! I have no fear of any one, however, in this 
respect, except myself. I feel much concerned that 
they may act worthy of their vocation, and also, that 
they may be able to teach others. I think it becomes 
us to make the most of every one whom the Lord 
gives us/ ,J 

The following letter was written by one of the most 
active and intelligent of the native preachers. He was 
uncle to Paunchoo, Mr. Carey's first convert. 



sebuk-rama's letter. 



199 



" Victory to God. Sebuk-Rama supplicates an in- 
terest in the compassion, holiness, forbearance, and 
gospel of God. 

" Receive my affectionate acknowledgments, and 
ten thousand thousand expressions of my love. I 
must now relate the particulars of my reception of 
the Gospel ; and first, from the day of leaving my 
mother's womb to come into this infamous world, I 
prepared my soul and body to break the commands of 
God ; I worshipped, served, and praised, and partook 
of the offerings to the gods and goddesses ; my mind 
was wicked ; I associated with the vile ; I was un- 
righteous, full of wrath and of filthy conversation; 
resorted to wicked places ; and being intoxicated with 
abominable pleasures, I gave that body, which should 
have been the temple of the blessed God, to the devil, 
and prepared my everlasting bed in hell, at once to 
lie down in eternal torments. 

" At length at a certain time in Khooroot market- 
place, Ram-krishna-poora, Mr. Ward, and our soul's 
beloved brother, Krishna-pal, came to the house of 
Mr. Cunningham ; at which time and place, making 
known the words of Jesus Christ and the good news, 
they left a New Testament and pious books, which 
books our excellent brother, Jugannat-ha, receiving 
into his own hands, placed them in his house. At 
this time I was a servant in the cannon foundry in 
the Fort. On the above day, about four o'clock in 



200 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

the afternoon, after leaving my work, immediately on 
my arrival, brother Jugannat-ha said, e Brother, God 
has called us ; and has sent a messenger of the Holy 
Book/ I said, 'Well, brother, as soon as I have 
eaten a morsel, I will come from home and look at it/ 
After a time I returned, and read and examined the 
book. I saw it contained the only way of holiness, 
and that God, for sinful men, in his own body bearing 
sufferings, had completed the sacrifice. I therefore, 
brother, judging in my own mind, see that in this 
we may indeed obtain salvation. This is certainly 
the truth. Being confident of this, the same night, 
two or three friends getting together, and throwing 
open the door of our hearts, we confessed that we 
had committed the blackest crimes, and wept much. 
"We confessed to each other, that our Lord Jesus 
Christ was truly the Son of God, the Saviour of 
sinners; we really believed this, and making it 
certain in our minds, with a loud voice called out in 
faith, ' Oh Lord, where art thou? O Saviour, save 
usP Then closing our eyes, we saw through our tears, 
the light which the Holy Spirit had shed in our 
hearts. Thus possessing a mind fixed in faith, we 
were brought to hate all transgression and sin, all 
evil connexions and works, the gods and goddesses ; 
all the evil customs of this wicked world ; so that 
hearing of them our ears tingled, and seeing them 
we turned another way. This we considered as the 



LETTER CONTINUED. 



201 



pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and through the 
mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, the mind became 
prepared. Then God, taking hold of my hand, and 
raising me from an unfathomable hell of everlasting 
sorrow, placed my feet on Mount Zion, and prepared 
me to enjoy everlasting life in his service. 

" Thus obtaining the mercy of God, and being full 
of joy, I would be ever ready with my spirit in the 
work of God, in ascribing blessing to the Holy 
Spirit, and in proclaiming, for the salvation of sinners, 
the glad tidings of our Lord Jesus Christ's death. 
"Wherefore I entreat, that having thus found the 
Saviour, you will kindly pray for this sinful, wicked, 
ungodly, unbelieving man, that Satan may never 
enter into him, nor into those brethren and sisters 
who live in the same place, nor into any who may 
embrace the Gospel. 

" This is now my desire ; and day and night, full 
of fear, this is my prayer to God, that I may be 
continually ready to proclaim his Gospel/' 



CHAP. IX. 



THE CALCUTTA MISSIONARY UNION — CONTINUED 
LABOURS, 

" While others are ambitions to form the citizen of the earth, 
be it yours to train him for heaven : to raise up the temple of 
God from the ancient desolations ; to contribute your part 
towards the formation and perfection of that eternal society, 
which will flourish in inviolable purity and order when all 
human associations shall be dissolved, and the princes of this 
world shall come to nought." — Robert Halt's Address to 
Eustace Carey. 

We have now conducted the subject of this memoir 
through more than two years of his residence in 
India. One year he and his colleague have been at 
their arduous work in Calcutta; and during this time, 
they have not been without indications of the Divine 
favour, nor without evidence that the light of the 
Divine Word, which they had sought to disseminate, 
had not only fallen upon the thick darkness with 
which they were surrounded, but had begun to 
agitate its otherwise impenetrable gloom. 

In the beginning of 1817 there was formed by 
the three younger missionaries, Mr. Lawson, Mr. 
Carey, and Mr. Yates, a missionary family union, 



CALCUTTA MISSIONAEY UNION. 



203 



similar to the one which existed in the early history 
of this mission at Serampore. 

The circumstances which led to this procedure are 
briefly as follows : During Mr. Carey's illness and 
absence at Digah in 1816, while Mr. Yates was 
supplying his place at Calcutta, very serious misun- 
derstandings arose between the missionaries at 
Serampore and their younger brethren. These 
painful differences so much increased during this 
time, that, on Mr. Carey's return, Dr. Yates was led 
to relinquish his connexion with the senior mission- 
aries, and to unite himself to Mr. Carey and Mr. 
Lawson at Calcutta. 

It will be remembered by the reader that the 
pastorate to which our two missionaries were invited 
by the church at Bow Bazaar, was held in con- 
nexion with the senior missionaries, these latter 
retaining a share both in the work and in the respon- 
sibilities of the charge. This union also becomes 
gradually severed; and from this time the reader 
must view the subsequent details of this history 
apart from its first relationship to the senior mis- 
sionaries at Serampore. This fact also here presents 
itself. The three younger missionaries, in their 
united capacity, now prosecuted their work on their 
own sole responsibility, and in direct connexion with 
the Missionary Society at home. As these painful 
differences so much affected the interests of Mr. 



204 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Carey's public life, both abroad and at home, they 
must be briefly noticed in a subsequent page; the 
writer being now desirous of avoiding all interruption 
to the following narrative of labours so interesting 
and effective. We shall now find Mr. Carey not 
only as a co-worker with Mr. Lawson and with the 
senior missionaries, but as one of the "Junior 
Brethren/' as they at this time styled themselves, 
and by which they became known to the world; 
distinguished and honoured as missionaries of the 
cross of Christ. 

By means of the family compact or missionary 
union before alluded to, a common fund was formed, 
into which they threw all their resources, whether 
derived from the Society at home, or their own 
earnings. Having thus "all things in common," they 
were able to economise their household expenditure, 
(the three, and soon four, families occupying two 
houses instead of four), and to do with much less in 
this department of their outlay than they possibly 
otherwise could have done. 

Such are briefly the facts of our present history. 
We must not anticipate events ; but may just remark, 
in passing, that the three brethren thus united together 
in Calcutta "as Missionaries of the same Society as 
that which sent them out," — namely, Mr. Lawson, Mr. 
Carey, and Mr. Yates, — are the founders of a new 
dynasty in the history of the Baptist Missionary 



CALCUTTA MISSIONARY UNION. 



205 



Society, and are the fathers of that great work 
which we now see in all its prosperity at Calcutta. 

As their trials and difficulties brought them nearer 
together and endeared them to each other, these 
three were united in heart as well as in their great 
work. In this new relationship they now met fre- 
quently for prayer. At one of these meetings, they 
drew up resolutions which should serve as the basis of 
their union, the substance of the first three being as 
follows : — 

" 1st. That the exclusive object of the union is the 
propagation of the Gospel among the heathen, and 
the promotion of each other's happiness in that work. 
2ndly. That we will act in unison with the Society in 
England, and in conformity with the advice of the 
Committee. 3rdly. That should funds so accumulate 
as to enable us to purchase premises, such premises 
shall be considered the Society's; shall be bought on 
their behalf, &c; and such writings and deeds shall 
be placed under their own care." This resolution also 
stated, " that all money acquired by labour, as well as 
fixed property, should be united with the Society's 
funds, provided they would consent to make a fixed 
provision for widows and children." Four other reso- 
lutions follow, which have reference to the internal 
management of this union. 

Thus they are prepared for their new work. It is 
the design of the writer, in giving the following 



206 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



details, to present a view of the general work, and not 
to relate every particular ; the one letter being a fair 
sample of fifty others, and the work of one day as 
that of many more. It will be seen that not only 
the great work of God's Spirit, in its regenerative 
process, is steadily advancing in India, but that there 
are also perceptible those common benefits which we 
find at home to result from the indirect influences of 
the Gospel. We now continue the narrative. 

" Jan.- 1817. On the 1th of this month the 
missionaries received a donation of 2S6 rupees 
from a few soldiers of the 89th Regiment, towards 
the spread of the Gospel among the heathen. 'It is 
but little/ they add, 'to support such a cause, when 
the calls of so many around you are so urgent for the 
bread of life; however, the cause is God's; and the 
name of Jesus Christ must extend to every tribe and 
nation. We have received its balmy message into 
our own hearts, and do rejoice in hope of the glory of 
God ; and we should rejoice abundantly if others were 
brought to love the Saviour/ 

"On the 1st of February, Mr. and Mrs. Penney 
arrived at Calcutta. Mr. Penney had long been en- 
gaged in conducting schools on the Lancasterian 
system, and was sent out by the Society to take 
charge of the Benevolent Institution." 

Feb. 9. Mr. Lawson writes to Mr. "Ward : — 

c: The Sircar will bring to you four hundred rupees, 



MR. W. H. PEARCE. 



207 



the mite of the poor soldiers in the Fort. It is a 
willing offering to the Lord. I am happy to say- 
that our prayer-meetings appear to be on the increase; 
but I speak with trembling, and rejoice with fear. 
We see new faces among us frequently, and have, in 
a good measure, conciliated the esteem and gained 
the attendance of several persons who long kept at a 
distance from us. Last Thursday evening we had a 
prayer-meeting at brother Johairs, where we had 
a large room well filled. Brother Gordon's prayer- 
meeting, the next evening, was full, and we had new- 
comers at the Saturday evening meeting for the 
young people. We have begun a Thursday morning 
lecture in Tutoly, to be held alternately at the houses 
of two friends. We hope thus to get some stragglers 
to hear us, who would not come to any regular place 
of worship." 

In August Mr. Carey had the pleasure of wel- 
coming Mr. W. H. Pearce, on his arrival at Calcutta. 
He had been invited by the senior brethren at Seram- 
pore to assist in the printing department there. 

It was a little remarkable that Mr. Carey, in his 
last interview with his friend Mr. W. H. Pearce, at 
Leicester, should have said to him, "William, we 
shall want you in India." Dr. Carey, before leaving 
England in 1793, made a similar remark to Mr. 
Ward, who eventually followed him thither, as Mr. 
Pearce now followed Mr. Carey. 



208 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



On his arrival at the Sand-heads, he alludes to this 
circumstance, in a letter to Mr. Carey. 

" My dear Eustace, — It has been with inexpres- 
sible interest and affection that I have frequently- 
recollected that interesting prediction, apparently so 
near its fulfilment, which was uttered by yourself at 
our interview at Leicester — e Well, William, we shall 
meet in India/ Often have the hopes I then cherished 
been all but extinct, and yet they are now gratified. 
May it be for extensive usefulness! You and Mrs. 
Carey are the only individuals in Bengal whose coun- 
tenances I or my dear Mrs. P. have ever beheld." 

Mr. Pearce proceeded to Serampore, and there 
assisted in the printing-office in connexion with Mr. 
Ward. He soon learned that there was some cause 
of difference pending between the senior missionaries 
and the Society. On this occasion, Mr. Pearce took 
part with the Society ; and about six months after 
his arrival, he left Serampore and joined the mission- 
ary union at Calcutta. Mr. Yates says of him — 
" In acting up to what he believed to be right, in 
common with the junior brethren, he had to give up 
the brightest prospects of usefulness, to risk the good 
opinion of those whom he highly esteemed and loved; 
and to commence operations in Calcutta under every 
disadvantage — dependent entirely upon his own ener- 
gies and the Divine blessing."* 

* Life of Mr. Pearce, p. 396. 



CALCUTTA MISSIONARY UNION. 



209 



Thus is another most efficient coadjutor added to 
the Junior brethren. 

It was proposed that he should set up a printing- 
press for the use of the mission in Calcutta, in order 
the more effectually to cany out the plans of useful- 
ness which, in their separate capacity, they had now to 
devise. The printing operations were commenced on 
a very limited scale, " with only one press in a con- 
temptible mat hut adjoining the house where he 
lived. This establishment he continued to enlarge as 
Providence increased his means ; and he raised it from 
the most inefficient to one of the most efficient in 
the city." 

Two of the missionary sisters also materially aided 
the good work in Calcutta. Mrs. Lawson and Mrs. 
W. H. Pearce united in establishing; a hoarding'- 
school for young ladies, the proceeds of which were 
thrown into their general fund. In this school Mr. 
Lawson taught drawing and some other branches of 
education. 

The reader will continue to obtain from the journals 
and letters of the missionaries the best view that can 
be taken of the habits of the people, the manner in 
which they received the truth, and the first effects of 
that truth upon their mind. He will also see the 
important works which were begun by the mission- 
aries in Calcutta, where they speedily erected, through 
the liberality of some friends on the spot, several 

P 



210 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CABEY. 



places for native worship free of all expense to the 
Society. From the one printing-press, in the course 
of a few months, they struck off 5200 tracts written 
by themselves in Bengalee and Hindostanee. One 
of these had several woodcuts, both drawn and en- 
graved by Mr. Lawson. These were the first illm* 
frated tracts published in India. 

In addition to all this good work, they formed an 
Auxiliary Missionary Society, which met as yet 
"more than half of all the outlay for schools, 
chapels, and native preachers." These funds, Mr. 
Carey continues to remark, " were raised upon the spot, 
either by contributions from the public, or from the 
labours of missionaries." 

Two new presses were soon in requisition, and by 
means of these "the leaves of the tree of life, 
which are for the healing of the nations," were mul- 
tiplied by tens of thousands, and circulated in the 
native tongues of the people. 

Schools for Europeans and natives soon after this 
appear ; and that which is matter of great interest, 
the first contributions for native female education were 
raised by the young ladies in Mrs. Lawson^s and 
Mrs. W, H. Pearce's boarding-school. The first 
school for native girls in Calcutta, if not in all India, 
was formed by these missionaries. It will appear, as 
we advance, how much of this truly astonishing work 
fell to the lot of Mr. Carey. In all this work, which 



CONTINUED LABOURS. 



211 



was begun in troublous times and with heavy 
hearts, they did well, and God was with them. He 
gave, moreover, power to the word of his grace as 
dispensed by them. It was much to be regretted that, 
doing so great a work, they should with one hand have 
had to hold the pen of controversy, while with the 
other they built the " wall of salvation," and erected 
e f the gate of praise," in this desolate city. Had this 
pen been employed against some Sanballat the Horo- 
nite, or Tobiah the Ammonite, it would have been 
only that which was to be expected from the enemies 
of God ; but it was used to explain painfully afflictive 
misunderstanding, with those who were at once their 
friends, their guides, and their beloved brethren in 
the bonds of the gospel. Yet " God who comforteth 
the cast down" compassionated them, and placed 
amongst them his presence and his love. 

We have now to trace the rise of that which Mr. 
Carey often called " one of the most beautiful missions 
that has ever been planted anywhere and at any time 
in this world." 

A new station was opened at Howrah on the arrival 
of Mr. Statham, in the autumn of 1820. This place 
is on the opposite bank of the Hooghly, and had 
many European residents, as well as numbers of Indo- 
British families, and a large population of Hindoo and 
Mussulman natives. Here there was no place of wor- 
ship of any kind, and the danger of crossing the river 



212 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



prevented many Christian families from enjoying the 
privileges of the Sabbath or the Christian ministry. 

Mr. Statham writes : — i€ To this place my esteemed 
friend the Rev. E. Carey had often gone, and had 
preached in a small bungalow belonging to a Pro- 
testant Portuguese, as well as to the natives in the 
Bazaar, and beneath a large peepul-tree, where four 
roads meet at the corner of the old school-grounds. 
It was therefore proposed by our brethren that I should 
accompany Mr. Carey to Howrah, with a view to the 
arranging of matters, so that stated services might 
be held there in future. Notice was accordingly sent 
to the Christian friends at Howrah of our proposed 
visit, and I shall never forget the cordial and hearty 
welcome we received from them. 

" As we were crossing the river, Mr. Carey, point- 
ing to the distant Ghaut, said, ' There are our friends 
waiting to receive us and no sooner did the boat 
touch the shore, than two good missionaries, Messrs. 
Jansen, a Dane ; and Bonner, an Indo-Briton, stepped 
on board to greet us. Alas ! these kind friends were 
soon removed by death, but the remembrance of them 
is still dear. The little bungalow to which we were 
conducted was speedily filled with British, Indo- 
British, and Portuguese Christians, all desirous of 
hearing the Word of Life." 

The reader is familiar with the name of this station, 
* Indian Recollections, p, 268. 



CONTINUED LABOURS. 



213 



occupied now by the esteemed missionary, Mr. Mor- 
gan, whose accounts often cheer us. as detailed in the 
Missionary Herald, and will now associate it with the 
early labours of Mr. Carey. Many were the dangers 
which threatened the missionary in crossing the river, 
especially in the rainy season ; but his zeal as that of 
a true missionary was unwearied, and as he had 
counted the cost when giving himself to this work, 
so in the field of action he braves all hardships, risks 
all dangers. 

The missionaries write to the Society : — 
" We should be glad to communicate intelligence 
which should gladden your hearts, and call forth your 
solemn thanksgivings to God for the success granted 
us ; but we have at present rather to solicit your sym- 
pathy and prayers. In the absence of any remarkable 
success, however, we are persuaded it will satisfy you 
to know we are not inattentive to the great object 
for which we were sent into this country ; but that 
as we are daily becoming more qualified by our pro- 
gress in the language, so we hope that we are more 
desirous than ever to pursue it. 

"In the English department we have much to 
mourn over, and difficulties to encounter too numerous 
to be detailed in a communication of this kind ; yet 
amidst all there are several encouraging circum- 
stances. 

" We informed you in our last that we had built 



214 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



two native chapels in different parts of the city. 
Congregations sometimes exceed two hundred. 

" "We have four tracts in Bengalee now ready for the 
press, 6 A Memoir of a Native Christian/ and • Poor 
Joseph/ both translated by brother Lawson. The 
first is printing, and is to be accompanied by two 
wood-cuts by brother Lawson. We have found em- 
bellishments of this nature, cut by him, and inserted 
in tracts lately printed at Serampore, excite great 
attention anions the natives. The third is a Memoir 
of Krishna-Presand, the first converted Brahmin, 
translated by brother Pearce; and the fourth, by 
brother E. Carey, is the first of a series of tracts, to 
be written upon the Evidences, the Doctrines, and 
Duties of Christianity, and consists of remarks on the 
importance and necessity of an immediate revelation 
from God. The work is to be printed at the expense 
of our Auxiliary Society; the funds of which, we are 
happy to say, though not large, appear pretty steady. 
We have lately printed at its expense 3000 copies of 
a few select hymns generally sung in our Bengalee 
worship." 

"Calcutta, Nov. 7, 1818. — Yates, Carey, and myself 
have, since the commencement of the cold season, 
been likewise engaged in alternate weekly itineraries. 
The first congregation was by far the best ; the whole 
street in which we made our stand seemed to send 
forth its people. We were first invited by some 



CONTINUED LABOURS. 



215 



Brahmins to sit clown at their door. We sang the 
hymn translated into Bengalee, 

" Come ye sinners, poor and wretched 
after which brother Pearce addressed the people. 
They listened at first with considerable attention, but 
a disciple of Bammohun-Boy proposed several ques- 
tions in a light and trifling way, which dissipated all 
their seriousness. The success of Bamrnohun- Boy's 
opinions shakes the fabric of superstition, but the 
reception of them does not, by one iota, increase the 
seriousness with which religious subjects are examined. 
Levity is the great vice of the native mind when 
employed on religion. They profess to believe that 
there is only one God, but they do not believe that 
he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek 
him. It is only those views of the character and 
government of God that are furnished by the cross 
of Christ, that can render the mind truly serious, and 
subdue its native pride. 

" The third stand we made was outside of a large 
bazaar, from which the people came to hear. Here 
brother Lawson's ' Life of Putik/ containing cuts of 
their Debtas, was greedily received. 

c f To-day I was accompanied by Paunchoo and his 
brother. The first stand that we made was in a very 
populous part of the city, when, after singing a hymn 
to the praise of Christ, Paunchoo addressed a congre- 
gation which he reckoned at five hundred. They 



216 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



listened nearly three-quarters of an hour apparently 
with serious attention; but some objection being 
started, their seriousness was dissipated. A Brahmin 
declared himself to be God, and able to do everything. 
I required him to give us a proof of his Almighty 
power by performing a miracle. He raged and went 
away, scouted by the multitude." 

"Feb. 24, 1819. — Our work among the natives 
has been gradually increasing, and we hope the effects 
resulting from it bear some small proportion, though 
we must confess, that had we to describe to you the 
latter instead of the former, we should feel ourselves 
greatly discouraged. We are thankful for what you 
have so kindly expressed to us on this subject, that 
you 6 do not require us to detail our success so much 
as our labours/ From this we learn that you do not 
expect that this barren wilderness should be culti- 
vated without much toil and repeated exertions, and 
that it is only in the patient pursuit of our great 
object that we can expect the Divine blessing and 
consequent success on the means we use. As far as 
our experience goes, it fully confirms the idea you 
have suggested ; we see that the seed must be sown, 
and patience exercised, before the crops can be reaped : 
the gospel must be published, it must be pressed on the 
attention of the heathen, and applied to their hearts 
by the Divine Spirit, before any important effects can 
result from it. 



CONTINUED LABOUES. 



217 



"We were afraid, respecting the places we built for 
worship among the natives, that, after they had 
become acquainted with the design of them, they 
would have absented themselves, or would have op- 
posed us. It was an experiment, and we had serious 
fears that it might fail at the first outset. Had we 
conferred with flesh and blood, we should have con- 
cluded, with others, that the plan, however desirable, 
was altogether impracticable. We trust we entered 
upon it, though with fear and trembling, yet in the 
strength of the Lord. He has assisted us, and blessed 
these means in part, and we hope that he will bless 
them still more. The attendance of the natives, 
instead of growing less, has been on the increase; 
and instead of violently opposing, they have, on the 
whole, become more attentive ; so that we can now 
speak to them for between two and three hours 
without the least disturbance. 

" The first moral effect we have perceived arising 
from our labours has been the production of a certain 
degree of seriousness in the minds of some that 
attend. The dreadfully black and complicated system 
of idolatry, to which the natives have been so long 
accustomed, has destroyed in their minds everything 
like serious reflection about salvation; and if they 
talk about it, it is rather to display their knowledge 
by the quotation of some line of poetry from their 
Shastras, than to learn whether there is a way in 



218 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



which they can obtain deliverance. You will not 
wonder, therefore, in such circumstances, if we should 
ascribe to a Divine influence what in England would 
be attributed to decency of manners. 

"Yet to our unspeakable mortification, after con- 
versing with them for some time, and gaining their 
consent to the truth of our message, and all we have 
declared, they have left us saying, that our Christ 
and their Krishna were the same j so that while we 
have some little to encourage our hopes, we have 
much more to excite our fears, and lay us low in the 
dust. We have as yet seen nothing- of that deep 
contrition for sin which is experienced by those who 
have correct views of the holiness of God and his 
laws. 

" The natives have no settled data on which we 
can argue with them on Divine things; they are 
destitute of moral principles, so that, instead of argu- 
ing from these, as we have always been accustomed, 
we have, with great difficulty, m the first place to 
establish them. For instance, they commonly main- 
tain that sin in God and in us is not the same thing, 
because he is above law ; and if sin enters into him, 
it is consumed like fuel in the fire ; and thus they 
take away the malignit}^ of sin and reduce it to a 
mere circumstance — in fact, they make God himself 
the author of all sin as well as holiness ; for, say 
they, ' We live and move in him, it must be he, 



CONTINUED LABOURS. 



219 



therefore, who impels us to everything we do." On 
this principle many do not fail openly to declare that 
they themselves are God. From this you will per- 
ceive there are many obstacles in the way of commu- 
nicating religious ideas to their minds; yet we 
begin to see some regularly attend and listen ; we 
begin to hear the name of Christ pronounced in what- 
ever direction we go, and oftentimes by many who 
we should have supposed had never heard it ; and w r e 
should gladly hail the day in which the Sun of Right- 
eousness shall arise with healing in his beams, and 
scatter the whole of these dark clouds of superstition 
and idolatry. 

cc This leads us to notice another very important 
step we are now taking in this department of labour. 
We have had frequently to lament our not being 
more intimately associated with the natives. After 
preaching we had some who have followed us, wish- 
ing to inquire more about this new way, who, when 
they have come into the European part of the city 
and seen its bustle and confusion, have made some 
excuse and gone back. We have also felt, on being 
called to preach to them, the necessity of entering 
fully into their modes of thinking and speaking. 
These considerations suggested to us the propriety of 
renting some ground, and building a house something 
like the natives' houses, that they might come to us 
freely and without suspicion, and that we might have 



220 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



a place to give them while they remained with us as 
inquirers, and also accommodate those who could give 
us some assistance in preaching. From these consi- 
derations we resolved to get a place, if possible, in the 
most populous part of the native city. We mentioned 
this to our pandit, and he immediately directed us to 
a spot in Doorgapore, which we think of all others 
that we know most eligible for our purpose. After 
due consideration, we took it for five years. 

" We immediately commenced building our house 
upon it, and it is now almost finished. This place is 
about four miles from our residence, and, if we are 
succeeded in our work, it will prove an important 
missionary station." 

After deliberation, it was agreed that this should 
be supplied for half a year at a time by one of three 
out of the six missionaries — viz., by Mr. Adam, Mr. 
Carey, and Mr. Yates, alternately. They continue : — 

u If you consider the extent of the population that 
lies before us, you will readily see the necessity of 
adopting some such plans. The number of idolaters 
in this city is nearly equal to the population of Lon- 
don; and suppose, even in its present enlightened 
state, that there w^ere not to be found in London six 
men to supply its spiritual wants, who would not 
consider that there was a dreadful famine of the Word 
of Life. This is the case here, for, instead of six, there 
is scarcely one amongst us who is capacitated to preach 



CONTINUED LABOURS. 



221 



with effect to the heathen ; and even were we all so, 
what would five or six missionaries be in a field where 
a million of souls are perishing for lack of knowledge. 
The sickle (we mean the Word of Life in the Bengalee 
language) has been put into our hands, the field 
(Calcutta and its environs) is laid open before us, and 
the language of Divine Providence seems to be, ' Enter, 
and labour/ We have attended to this voice, and now 
we must continue till by faith and patience a blessing 
is secured. 

" The prosecution of plans like these we are now 
attempting will be attended with considerable ex- 
pense, because, in addition to the money laid out in 
the commencement, we have another house establish- 
ment to support, which, though it will be nothing 
like the expenses of keeping house amongst the Euro- 
peans in Calcutta, will be something considerable." 

Then follows in this letter an account of the native 
preacher, Paunchoo. His mind was first impressed by 
a conversation with Mr. Carey, and he may be esteemed 
as the first fruit of his labours amongst the natives. 
This was matter of great joy to him ; and through 
the whole of his missionary career — in all his itinera- 
ries, in his illness at Doorgapore, and at all times and 
everywhere, this native was his faithful friend and 
attendant. That beautiful and spontaneous growth 
of affection which the Apostle points out so strikingly 
as dwelling in Timothy towards the Philippians, 



222 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



dwelt in this Hindoo convert. Whether the reference 
were to the missionaries or to his perishing country- 
men, the truth was applicable to Paunchoo, " I have 
no man like-minded who will naturally care for your 
stele." 

In the following paragraph, their first attempt at 
native female education is noticed. 

u It is our intention to attempt the instruction of 
a few native girls, when our influence may be such as 
to prevail upon the parents to send them. The 
schools amongst the natives for the instruction of 
boys are numerous, and of various kinds ; but they 
have the most rooted antipathy against the education 
of the female sex, and the attempts made to overcome 
it have been few, and only partially successful. 
Every fresh attempt, however, diminishes the quan- 
tity of ignorance." 

With respect to this department of labour, the 
missionaries write — 

" Though we would be thankful for opportunities 
of usefulness of this nature, we wish so to view them, 
as to estimate their importance by the relation they may 
bear to our usefulness in a, missionary point of view 7 and 
contemplate them as auxiliary only to our appropriate 
work as missionaries. We are messengers of salvation 
to the heathen, and while we hold it a duty to seek 
their intellectual improvement, and to pray for the 
success of all efforts of this kind made by others, we 



CONTINUED LABOURS. 



223 



wish our time and strength to be so applied, as for 
spiritual objects to give the prominent character to 
our engagements. If men are taught to think pro- 
perly upon natural subjects, it is matter of thankful- 
ness, as it may prove a blessing to them through life, 
by showing them the folly of their ancient system, 
and exciting them to investigate matters of higher 
concern ; but if, through the preaching of the gospel, 
Christ is formed in them the hope of glory, they are not 
only blessed for this life, but for that which is to come. 
And we feel a confident persuasion, that, if our Society, 
who labour at home to support the missionaries, and 
we who are sent forth to carry into effect its designs 
abroad, make the preaching of the cross of Christ the 
simple and steady object of pursuit, the mission will be 
succeeded of God, who never withholds his blessing 
from his own institutions. By this means it may not 
be splendid, but it will be useful and venerable. It 
may possess less of public applause, but will receive 
the blessing of those who are ready to perish, and be 
enriched with the smiles of the great Head of the 
Church, to whom it must be considered proportionably 
acceptable, as it subserves the purpose of his dying 
love." 

The writer has put passages in the above para- 
graph in italics, because they are worthy of the 
special notice of the reader. It was Mr. Carey's 
opinion, not only when a missionary abroad, but 



224 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



when pleading the cause of the Society at home, that 
in however large a degree the various institutions of 
a religious or benevolent character were successful, 
that however multiplied and spread abroad, yet they 
were to be considered as auxiliaries only ; that the 
main thing for them as missionaries, was the preaching 
of the gospel in the vernacular tongue of the people 
to whom they addressed it. This, as an institution 
of Christ, whose servants they were, was to be the 
one object and the main intention of their lives. In 
the first planting of the gospel by the apostles of 
our Lord, this was the only means they used. Then 
there were no School-Book Societies, no Bible 
Societies, no Tract distribution. But they went 
every toiler e preaching the Word. J? reach the Word ; 
be instant in season and out of season. So hath 
Christ commanded us to preach the gospel: we preach 
Christ crucified. Through the foolishness of preaching 
to save them that believe, well may our missionaries 
say, " It will not be splendid, but it will be useful 
and venerable. It may possess less of public applause, 
but it will receive the blessing of those who are ready 
to perish." In the after-life, the reader will learn 
how true this is with reference to Mr. Carey. While 
in Calcutta he was the constant preacher to the 
natives; preaching being his chief work and his 
greatest delight. For this reason his name appears 
not amongst the names of those who formed and 



CONTINUED LABOURS. 



225 



conducted the leading societies at this time in Cal- 
cutta. While he had no business tact, and no liking 
to the mere details of committees, he could go on for 
ever without interruption in his favourite employment 
of preaching. Thus his first service at Doorgapore 
in this month is mentioned in Mr. Adams's Journal. 
He says of the station : — " It is in an excellent 
situation for gaining a congregation at any time of 
day. There is a neat meeting-house constructed, 
just against the road; and if a missionary goes into 
it, and begins to sing a hymn or read a chapter, in a 
few minutes he will have a good congregation. 
Brother Carey began singing, a boy or two came and 
sat down; next a man, who at Carey's request sat 
down; then many others, and after that a fall 
of people stopped, till at length there was a very 
good congregation, who heard attentively the words 
of eternal life; and on our departure said, with 
apparent satisfaction, c these are indeed the true 
words.' The station, considering all things, will 
not be an expensive one." 

And now may the stone of help be erected. They 
write: — 

"We have now been united in Calcutta for up- 
wards of fourteen months, and, though we can say 
nothing of absolute success, yet we doubt not that in 
due time this will be granted. The more we con- 
template this scene of missionary operations, the 

Q 



226 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



more it rises in importance ; and the more we are 
able to enter into missionary engagements, the more 
our minds are overwhelmed with the immensity of 
the prospect of what needs to be done. 

" Here are condensed within the circumference of 
a few miles, at the lowest calculation, a million of 
souls, all, with a few exceptions, devoted to a ^de- 
grading superstition. Here your missionaries have 
to meet in the higher ranks either the grossest sen- 
sualities, or all the pride of human intellect. Here 
philosophy, falsely so called, shows itself in all its 
sophistry of argument, and in all its enmity against 
God and his truth ; and here, in a vast and deluded 
multitude, idolatry, in all its frenzy, in all its lewd- 
ness, and in all its frightful cruelties, is rampant. 
Tliis is a people rolled and spoiled, and none saitli 
Jjeliver" 

This chapter is concluded by recording the early 
recollections of Mr. Carey's eldest son. 

"The mission family resided in a large white house, 
at the north end of Calcutta, on the high road to 
Barrackpore. This family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. 
Penney, Mr. and Mrs. Yates, and Mr. and Mrs. Carey. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lawson resided in the Circular-road, 
where Mrs. Lawson kept a ladies 5 school. Mr. 
Pearce resided in the same road, at the mission press. 
These five families united together their several in- 
comes, and formed one fund for the supply of their 



CONTINUED LABOUES. 



227 



daily necessities ; so that, while each family bore its 
share of the gross expenditure, they had, in this most 
happy union, ' all things common/ 

" Mr. Carey and Mr. Yates had the charge of a 
boys' school. The premises were large and commo- 
dious, and, for Calcutta, healthy. 

" These days were passed most happily : there is no 
bitterness associated with their remembrance. Each 
in this establishment had his own particular apart- 
ments, his own particular duties ; and, at certain 
times, all used to meet for morning and evening 
worship, for meals, and social intercourse. 

"The happiest time used to be in the afternoon, 
after dinner. The jalousies being down, and the hot 
air excluded — no punkah then in motion — Mrs, 
Penney, Mrs. Yates, and Mrs. Carey used to sit in 
the side room, with the three children, William Yates, 
my sister, and myself. I shall never forget while 
life lasts these afternoon conversations. Child as I 
was, they used to be felt by me. The subject one 
afternoon was, what hymns each liked best. Mrs. 
Carey's choice was, 'On Jordan's stormy banks I 
stand;' Mrs. Yates's I do not remember; Mrs. 
Penney's was, ( Unclean, unclean, and full of sin.' 
Mrs. Penney's, I thought, was a singular choice. I 
could find no fault in her; I loved her much. She 
was always the same — kind, loving, and tender : and 
yet, she e unclean, unclean, and full of sin.' This 

Q 2 



228 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



passed my comprehension. But notwithstanding 
this, I set to work to learn this hymn, and easily 
mastered it. My mother's I could not ; after even 
long trial I could not repeat it. But one morning, 
while at family worship, during prayer, it came into 
my memory. With great difficulty I waited till 
prayer was over ; but the instant it was done, I ran 
to my friend Mrs. Penney, to repeat it to her; and 
great, indeed, was the pleasure that I had in 
doing so. 

u The greatest part of the instruction devolved on 
Mr. Penney, w T ho had also to conduct his Lancasterian 
school. How very active he used to be. He was 
here, there, and everywhere. He cultivated a 
garden, and never shall I forget the glee and delight 
with which he came home one day from his garden, 
and presented us with some real English strawberries, 
cultivated and brought to perfection, for the first 
time in India, by himself. 

" At Boitakonah my father wrote his Harmony of 
the Gospels in Bengalee.* It was here also we could 
witness from our windows all the poojahs and wor- 
ship of Hindooism. 

"At the end of the playground the great car of 
Juggernath used to be brought and left. I and W. 
Yates used to go and see it, and wonder at the innu- 

* This was the united production of Mr. Carey and Mr. 
Yates, printed in Bengalee at the Calcutta press. 



CONTINUED LABOURS. 



229 



merable heavy wheels, hideous images, and frightful 
paintings. There were the remains of the crushed 
human sacrifices, and the cries of Hurree bol. 

"Here used to be performed before our eyes the 
Churruk-poojah, and many a time have I seen it. I 
shall never forget the performance of a Portuguese, 
and also of a woman swung round, thrown down, and 
killed. Also, here was performed part of the same 
poojah, — the ascending of various flights or stories 
by the natives, and throwing themselves off on beds 
of spikes. All the horrors of idolatry and the cruel 
tortures used to be undergone. 

" At this time school was given partially up, and 
my father, as he was the best speaker, used to go to 
these idolaters. No time was lost, no strength nor 
exertion spared ; in season and out of season he was 
engaged in addressing them, and seeking to press 
home on their consciences the duty of repentance and 
faith. 

" In certain districts every day he used to be em- 
ployed preaching and testifying to the heathen the 
wonderful works of God. He laboured hard. Some- 
times he used to take me with him. It was during 
one of these itineraries that a medical friend said to 
him, c It won't do, Mr. Carey, flesh and blood cannot 
stand it'/ meaning, of course, his unbroken and 
laborious exertion. 

" It was at Boitakonah, also, that I first saw Mr. 



230 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Chamberlain, who, as I was in delicate health, took 
me with him to the Sunderbunds in his budgerow. 

" To this place Dr. Carey used to come and see us. 
I was somewhat of a pet with the good Doctor, and 
he has often taken me with him, after he had done 
his duties at Fort William, in his closed one-horse 
carriage to Serampore, where I used to have the 
range of his large garden and the mission premises, 
part of which belonged to him. 

" There was a boys' school at Serampore, at which 
Dr. Carey used to conduct the family worship. He 
gave out the hymn, set the tune, stamping ener- 
getically with his foot at first going off. After the 
hymn the prayer. It was so humble, good, and quiet 
— -just like himself." 



CHAP. X. 



STATION AT DOORGAPOKE — JOURNAL. 

" The missionary holds the lamp of instruction to those who 
sit in darkness and in the shadow of death ; and while there 

remains a particle of ignorance not expelled his task 

is left unfinished." — H. Hall's Address. 

We now enter upon Mr. Carey's distinct work in tke 
city of Calcutta. This chapter will present great 
interest to the reader, from the circumstance that the 
Journal and letters which follow are from his own 
pen, and have never before been published. 

The Herald reports, — "Oct. 7, 1819.— Mr. Eustace 
Carey has lately resigned the co-pastorship of the 
church, and intends to devote himself exclusively to 
the heathen population in and around Calcutta." 
The Report also confirms their own statements, with 
reference to the importance of preaching, given at the 
close of the last chapter, as follows : — 

"At Calcutta the labours of the Junior brethren 
have gradually acquired a more extensive range, and 
although Messrs. Yates and Eustace Carey have been 
visited with severe affliction during a season which 



232 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



proved unusually fatal, we have to record, with joy 
and thankfulness, that hitherto the missionary strength 
employed by the Society in the metropolis of India 
has sustained no diminution. 

" Convinced, however, that the preaching of the 
cross is the grand means by which the heathen world 
is to be reclaimed to God, our brethren have endea- 
voured to extend their labours in this department as 
much as possible. With this view, they have increased 
the number of their places for native worship, and, in 
defraying the expenses, have been aided not only by 
the funds of the Auxiliary Society in Calcutta, all of 
which are applied to the cause of the Gospel in that 
city, but by the liberality of private individuals. One 
instance of this kind is specified, which proves, in a very 
satisfactory manner, the influence of real religion on 
the heart. A Portuguese woman, a member of the 
church, having been employed as a servant in a respect- 
able family, had saved a small sum, which she was 
desirous of devoting, in some way, to the cause of 
God. Nothing better having occurred, she offered 
to rent a piece of ground, and build on it a Bengalee 
place of worship at her own expense. After having 
ascertained to their entire satisfaction that her design 
in this proposal was to promote the work of God, the 
missionaries acceded to her request. The house was 
built, and the following letter, which she sent to 
Mr. Eustace Carey on this occasion, will interest 



STATION AT DOORGAPOBE. 



233 



every reader, by the strain of evangelical simplicity 
in which it is written. 

"may the glorious god be victorious! 
" My dear Brother, — I am by no means worthy 
to write to you, or even to call you brother, because 
I am a very insignificant person. It is through the 
love of the Lord that I have been able to call you 
brother. I have one request to make — and that is, 
that you will not think anything of the house, for it 
was not from me, but from the hand of God. If the 
Lord alone had not given me the mind, I should have 
been able to do nothing at all. O Lord ! thy mercy 
is great ; thy death is all in all. I could stand in the 
streets to proclaim thy praise, but then men would 
say that I was mad. O Lord ! what shall I do to 
proclaim thy praise? A few days ago, as I was 
sitting and meditating, my mind was exceedingly 
happy, and I said, c O, my mind, come, let us build 
a house in which we may proclaim the praise of 
the Lord/ After this, however, I did not know 
whether I should do it or not ; because I thought, 
' O, mind, if this is only done with the body, then 
I shall certainly be like the idolaters, who think 
there is merit in such things/ Then my mind was 
afraid. But I said, e O, my mind, whence has this 
desire arisen — how do I know but it came from the 
hand of the Lord?' O gracious Lord, if it came 



234 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



from thee, give me an humble mind, that in this thy 
name may be glorified. O Lord, we are thy culti- 
vators — what can we do ? Thou art the giver of the 
fruit — thou canst do all things — nothing is impossible 
with thee. Let me not trust in my own wisdom ; 
but in everything acknowledge thee. May the grace, 
love, and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all 
the brethren and sisters. Amen. 

Signed, 

An insignificant Handmaid oe the Lord."* 

JOURNAL. 

Doorgapore, Sept. IS 19. 

When our morning worship was over, a Mussul- 
man replied : — " Well, sir, if the English and Hindoos 
may be saved by Christ, what is to become of the 
Mussulman?^ It was asked him in return whether 
the English and Hindoos did not receive light from 
the same sun ? He said " Yes." u Well, whence do 
the Mussulmans obtain the light which they enjoy ?" 
" Erom that, too," he replied. " So it is with the 
salvation that is in Jesus Christ. The English and 
Hindoo may partake of it, and yet it is abundant for 
Mussulmans too, and no other remedy is provided." 

Brother Penney and myself walking out this 
evening upon the Barrackpore Road, after conversing 
with several poor people who were loitering about, we 
met with a respectable Brahmin, whom we endea- 

* After erecting the house, she undertook the menial office of 

cleaning it. 



JOURNAL. 



235 



voured to engage in conversation. He informed us 
that there were many learned men in the neighbour- 
ing village, of which he was an inhabitant ; that the 
Vedant Shastras were much studied there, and that 
he possessed a copy of some part of them. 

" What do they contain ?" 

" They treat of the nature of God/' &c. 

u Is there any way of salvation made known in 
them?" 

" Yes, but they are not the privilege of the com- 
mon people, they are only designed for the Brahmins ." 
" Why, who created the Brahmins ?" 
"The Supreme God." 
" And who created the common people ?" 
" The same Being." 

"And are not all, Brahmins and Hindoos, (com- 
mon people,) alike sinners ?" 
" Every man is a sinner." 

" But if the way of salvation is revealed in the 
Vedant Shastras, and they are exclusively for the 
Brahmins, what is to become of the poor ignorant 
multitude?" 

" They are not without hope ; they are at liberty to 
pronounce the name of God ; they can say ' Hurry, 
hurry/ and that will save them." 

" If you had a servant who constantly disobeyed 
your orders and wasted your property, would his 
pronouncing your name merely, ensure his forgive- 
ness V 3 



236 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



" No, that could not be." 

This gave occasion for some remarks as to the 
suitableness of the Gospel dispensation, from its being 
accessible to all mankind, and from the abundant 
provision made for all by the incarnation and atone- 
ment of Christ. 

" Ah I" says the Brahmin, " men will not believe in 
Christ at present, there is a necessary delay, for this 
is the Kully-Yoog, or evil dispensation." 

It was answered him that if death arrived, there 
would be no delay in that case ; and as Christ was 
the only Saviour from the wrath to come, he ought 
not to delay in believing on him. He refused to re- 
ceive books from us. 

Wednesday, 22nd. — Our worship at Baranagur 
well attended. A Brahmin came in about the middle 
of the service, and displayed very great impatience. 
He made several attempts to interrupt us in speaking, 
and to disturb the attention of the people. He was 
requested to wait till we had finished our discourse, 
but, being very angry, he turned off almost imme- 
diately. We were particularly struck with the atten- 
tion which a Byragee paid to the Word of God. He 
made his appearance almost as soon as we had com- 
menced reading, and, while others were going and 
coming, he remained silent and immovably fixed till 
all was concluded, when he came in and sat himself 
down. Upon our asking whether any one had any- 



JOUENAL. 



237 



thing to reply to what we had said, he declared that 
no one could urge anything against what had been 
advanced. But as he spoke Hindu, we asked him 
how he knew what had been said. He confessed he 
did not understand much of the Bengalee language, 
but, from what he could gather from the scraps of the 
discourse, he understood that we had been preaching 
of Dhorma-cotta and the Soily Gooroo religion, and the 
Divine Instructor. We prevailed on him to accom- 
pany us home, where he remained with us till nine 
o' clock. In conversation in the evening, he gave a 
long account of his journeyings for twelve years past 
in search of something that he deemed salvation ; for 
it was evident he had no distinct idea of what he was 
in quest of, or what was the nature of that salvation 
he spoke of. Yet he acknowledged that it was salva- 
tion from sin he was seeking. He was asked what sin 
was ? He answered if he saw a person kill a man or 
a cow, he knew that was sin ; and he evidently held it 
as great a sin to kill a cow as a man ! It was further 
urged upon him, whether he knew of any absolute 
rule or law by which to judge of the nature of sin in 
general, as committed against the supreme God : — 

" If I see a man blind, or deformed, or lame, or 
labouring under any incurable disease, I conclude," 
says he, " that God has inflicted this punishment upon 
him for sinning against him in some former birth." 

This put us in mind of the disciples of Christ, when 



238 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



tliey asked him, " Who did sin, this man or his parents, 
that he was born blind ?" 

As to holiness, if a person gave away large sums of 
money to Brahmins or to the poor, his holiness was 
in proportion to what he gave away, and that his 
reward in heaven would be of the same nature and 
proportion . It was asked him what would become of 
such as were poor like himself, and could therefore 
bestow nothing upon others. He replied that if a 
person obtained his living by begging, and should 
exert himself and get more than he himself stood in 
need of, and give it another needy person who might 
be passing by, he would be denominated holy from 
such an action. 

But sometimes he would speak as though he ex- 
pected all things to be accomplished as to his salva- 
tion by the power of Raarn, whose follower he was, 
and was very fluent in repeating verses of poetry in 
his praise, which he recited with an astonishing 
readiness at every turn. We at length related to him, 
as well as we were able, the wretched state of man by 
his apostasy from God. We told him that the Holy 
Book which he saw in our hands in the afternoon, 
taught us how to judge of the nature of sin ; that by 
the incarnation and death of Christ a full redemption 
might be enjoyed, and real holiness be obtained. 
Having said these things, we sang the Bengalee 
hymn — 



JOURNAL. 



239 



" The Person who gave his life for the redemption of sinners, 
0, my soul, forget Him not 

and one of the Jessore Christians concluded. "We 
gave him an earnest invitation to desist from prose- 
cuting his journey, and remain with us until he knew 
more of Christ. He said he would go to the village 
to lodge, and return in the morning. He refused to 
take anything from us for food. 

In the morning of the 23rd the Byragee spoken of 
above returned with two others, and a female whom 
he called his wife. After some conversation with our 
native brother Paunchoo, all three of the men were 
anxious to remain with us, but the woman obstinately 
persisted in opposing them ; and declared she would 
go alone if they chose to remain here, and reproached 
them not a little. They allowed her to start alone ; 
but, after sitting some little time, they all followed, 
and we have seen no more of them. 

Saturday, 25th. — A man passing through our 
grounds in the habit of a Sunyasee, Paunchoo called 
him, and entered into conversation with him. He 
was a follower of Seeb, and carried in his hands a 
tresulo and a deer skin. He is a native of Carnata, 
and has assumed the character of a Byragee for about 
twelve years. The first four years he spent in tra- 
velling in parts more contiguous to his own country, 
and these last eight years he has been visiting almost 
all places that are esteemed holy ; he in consequence 



240 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



can speak a little Hindu, by which our native brother 
is able to hold conversation with him. He says he 
is in search of the true Instructor of Salvation. We 
tell him Jesus is the true Instructor ; and he declares 
that he will go no further. 

Wednesday, 29th. — The Sunyasee, Rarn-Bhurat, 
has now been with us five days. A person coming 
past yesterday, sarcastically observed, "You a Sun- 
yasee, and are come here to be made a Christian, are 
you?" He answered, by punning upon the Sunyasee 
— "I am Sorbanasee (entirely ruined), and am come 
here for help." He says he will remain with us, and 
learn the way of salvation by Christ. He requests 
to take off his long beard, which he has allowed to 
grow as a mark of peculiar sanctity ; but we tell him 
not to be in haste, as salvation through Christ may 
be obtained without any regard to beards, or clothes, 
or eating, or drinking. 

Doorgapore, October, 1819. 
Oct. 1st. — Eam-Bhurat, the Sunyasee, left us very 
early this morning, without seeing any one of us, or 
assigning any reason. He has been with us a week, 
and I verily thought, for the first two or three days, 
that there was something like serious inquiry about 
him ; but in this, as in almost every case, our hope is 
succeeded by disappointment. That promise — a Ye 
shall reap if ye faint not," is very consoling in mis- 
sionary work. 



JOURNAL. 



241 



After singing twice, and reading a long chapter 
this morning, we were able to collect a pretty good 
number of people, among whom were several Brah- 
mins. One asked, what benefit there would be in 
believing in Christ? Instead of answering this ques- 
tion directly, I endeavoured to make him understand 
what was required in believing in Christ — viz., that 
lewdness, covetousness, lying, deceit, and idolatry, 
must be repented of and forsaken ; and then stated, 
that, if he could comply with these conditions, and 
give his heart to holiness, he would then find by 
experience that, through belief in Christ, his sins 
would be forgiven, his worship be rendered acceptable 
in the sight of God, and his mind be made pure and 
fit for heaven. 

Oct. 7th. — The congregation, for the last five 
days, much as usual, but no disputing. The people 
hear quietly and then go away, and others come. 
Several Brahmins have seemed, for two or three 
mornings, to hear with attention and a measure of 
approbation ; but nothing is heard of them after the 
service is over. No inquirers after the true salvation 
since the last Sunyasee, Itam-Bhurat, left us. 

Oct. 8th. — Obtained a good congregation on the 
highway. All w r ere very silent and attentive, with 
the exception of two or three Brahmins, whose evi- 
dent intention was to excite confusion, and to destroy 
the attention of the poor people who were standing 

R 



242 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



about us. In this they were disappointed, as we 
addressed them very civilly, and begged them to 
defer disputing until we should finish our discourse 
to the people ; but their impatience would not allow 
them to do this, so they left us to our work. 

Before we had concluded another Brahmin came 
up, who was determined to interrupt us. After re- 
plying to two or three things which he advanced, we 
found him too boisterous to allow us any possible 
chance of silencing him ; so we gave up the contest. 

Oct. 10th, Sabbath. — Our congregation by the 
road-side very attentive, and more numerous than 
common. About the middle of the service, a Byragee 
came in, w T ho seemed almost in an agony about some- 
thing ; what it was we know not. 

He stopped till we had concluded, when we ques- 
tioned him as to what he was seeking after; he said 
he wanted salvation, and was trusting for it to the 
name of Krishna. We exhorted him to trust in 
Christ, who was an all-sufficient and the only Re- 
deemer, and invited him to spend some time with us. 
He remained with us until two o' clock, when, under 
pretence of cooking some food, he left us, and we have 
seen nothing of him since. I had great hopes, from 
his apparent earnestness, that he was seeking sal- 
vation. 

Oct. 11th. — This morning a Byragee came to me, 
with whom brother Adams had conversed during his 



JOURNAL. 



243 



residence here, and whom he earnestly entreated to 
leave off begging, and to come and reside upon 
our premises, but to no purpose. He was very ill 
with a fever, and said he was greatly distressed at 
the fear of death. I in the first place gave him 
some medicine to reduce his fever, which was very 
strong; and though he professed some desire to 
believe in Christ for salvation, yet having received 
this aid he immediately went off. 

Oct. 12th. — Morning worship attended much as 
usual. This evening went on the road, and soon 
collected a tolerable number of people, who were very 
attentive, and, after we had concluded, several desired 
books with a professedly serious intention of reading 
them; which has not been the case in many in- 
stances for this last month. But no serious inquirers 
about the way of life. 

Oct. 13th. — Nothing occurred this morning on 
the side of the road worthy of notice. There were 
but few people at Baranagore this evening, owing 
to the threatening appearance of the weather. At 
the conclusion of the service two natives requested 
books ; but, knowing that one of them had obtained 
some from us before, I asked him what he had done 
with them. He was candid enough to say that he 
did not like them, and had sold them to the shop- 
keepers for waste paper. I of course gave him no 
more. This incident may serve to show that some 

R2 



244 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



discrimination is required in distributing tracts, and 
still more so in giving away portions of the Scrip- 
tures, as, from their bulk, they afford a greater temp- 
tation to dispose of them. 

Oct. 15th. — A good congregation this morning, 
and some opposition, but, as it was made with a great 
deal of confusion and vociferation, it was not easy to 
collect and reply distinctly to what was said. One 
of our objectors wished for ocular demonstration of 
what we said as to the power of Christ to save men ; 
but when urged with the unreasonableness of his 
demands, he readily granted that his faith in the 
power of the Hindoo Debtas was not the result of 
any demonstration of this nature, but from testimony. 
Yet he was unwilling to admit the same kind of proof 
in favour of Christianity. We constantly find that 
it is more easy to answer than to silence the natives 
as to the objections they bring against the gospel. 
Not that it can be insinuated that they are destitute 
of acumen; the reverse is evinced daily, but their 
acumen, receiving its quality from the general temper 
of the people, most frequently borders upon cunning, 
and exemplifies itself, not by giving a particular point, 
and presenting in the most favourable bearings an 
argument intrinsically sound, but in finding out such 
shifts and subterfuges as may steel them against 
conviction. And they are so overstocked with ancient 
sayings and quotations from their Shastras, and so 



JOURNAL. 



245 



ready at comparison, all which is deemed by them 
sound argument, that their talent for disputation is 
unlimited and unwearied. 

A good congregation on the Barrackpore road this 
evening. A Brahmin interrupted, and said : — " We 
believe there is but one God ; but as there are many 
roads to Calcutta, so there are many ways to heaven." 
One of his own countrymen, a Byragee, standing by, 
immediately replied : " But, brother, if I go a round- 
about way, there is danger of my being benighted 
before I reach the city." 

Oct. 16th. — The attendance on the road-side this 
morning better than usual. The meeting-house was 
nearly full, besides a number who continued standing 
on the road-side. Their attention was attracted by 
the appearance of a native inquirer, who was until 
very lately a devotee of some eminence, and who yet, 
from his head-dress, has an interesting appearance. 
This man was first seen at Kalie Ghaut by brother 
Keith. As an act of austerity, he bound himself 
under a vow of silence, which he persevered in for the 
space of four years. He is now under instruction 
with brother Peters ; and, at my request, paid us a 
visit at Doorgapore. There is something very hopeful 
in him, and, should he prove sincere in his inquiries 
after Divine truth, from the appearances of talent and 
information he exhibits, there is reason to expect he 
will be a useful man. 



246 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Oct. 27th. — Owing to very heavy and constant 
rains but little could be attempted within these last 
eight days ; but now the cold season has evidently set 
in, I hope to go out nearly every day. Yesterday a 
man came to the house of our native brother after 
morning worship, and having sat with him until he 
read through a whole tract, he professed a strong 
desire to remain with us ; but on Paunchoo's leaving 
the house for a few minutes, he left in the meantime, 
and no more has been seen of him. 

We must guard against too much discouragement 
after such occurrences ; for after they have heard some 
of the leading truths of salvation stated to them at 
some length, it may be that some conviction may 
reach the heart, and some degree of moral light 
remain, notwithstanding all the efforts of Satan to 
the contrary. 

My cousin, William Carey, once informed me, that 
he not unfrequently meets with people, when upon 
his itineraries, who retain some knowledge of the way 
of salvation, owing to what they had heard from 
brother Chamberlain ten or twelve years ago. So 
certain is it that our work is not in vain in the 
Lord. 

Oct. 28th. — We went out to Ghoosoree, a neigh- 
bouring village over the other side of the river, and 
addressed a number of poor but attentive people. 
Two or three Brahmins made their appearance, but, 



JOURNAL. 



247 



with the exception of one of their number, went to 
a distance, where they sat and heard us. 

We commenced by singing, and after praying for 
the blessing of God upon the inhabitants of the 
village, and especially that their hearts might be 
opened to receive favourably the message we had 
brought to them, both myself and the native brother 
discoursed to them of the common salvation, and 
meeting with none inclined to dispute with us, we 
gave away several tracts, and proceeded about a 
mile up the river, to the other extremity of the 
village, where we also collected Mussulmans and 
Hindoos, though not to so great a number. There 
was a man amongst our hearers who had swung six 
times at the Churruck Poojah, besides having had 
slips of bamboo run through his side. I asked him 
what fruit he had obtained by all that he had done ; 
he replied that he had experienced nothing but pain 
at present, but what would become of it hereafter he 
knew not. 

Oct. 29th. — Obtained a good congregation on the 
highway this evening, and uninterrupted attention 
was given while we read a tract almost through, and 
both myself and a native brother addressed them. 
After concluding, one man inquired what was to 
become of him, respecting the things of this world, 
provided he believed in Christ and became his 
follower with the view of being happy in the world 



248 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



to come. He was told the religion of Christ did not 
require any man to abandon his family and friends, 
provided they did not forsake him ; and that it did 
not require any persons to relinquish worldly employ- 
ments, as do the Fakeers among the Mussulmans, 
and Sangarees among the Hindoos ; but that every 
man should follow his worldly employment, only he 
must be honest in so doing, or he could not be a 
disciple of Christ. 

It seems to be a general sentiment among Hindoos 
that some degree of defilement necessarily attaches to 
worldly pursuits, however they are conducted; and 
others boldly assert, that without lying it is impos- 
sible to succeed in any undertaking. And yet the 
same person, according to one of their own sayings, 
will confess to you that the fruit of one lie is eternal 
death. There is no way to account for this, but to 
suppose that sin and holiness, heaven and hell, are all 
alike indifferent to them. 

Another was indignant that we should hold forth 
Christ to the people, and not Krishna; upon which we 
begged him to explain to us what Krishna had done 
for the salvation of men. He then ran over in haste 
what he deemed Krishna's God-like deeds. We then 
again called his attention to the doctrines of Christ 
and his miracles, together with his unspeakable love 
in dying to save men, from which he might infer the 
reason why we preached Christ and not Krishna. 

Oct. 30th. — Went this morning to a populous 



JOUKNAL. 



249 



village named Boalee, where, upon landing, we fell 
into conversation with a number of Brahmins who 
had been bathing at the Ghaut. In this conversation, 
an old Brahmin asserted the unity of God, and the 
lawfulness of worshipping a number of deities, with 
the same breath. After concluding this dispute, we 
went further into the village, till we came to a toler- 
ably large tree ; here we were considerably interrupted 
by the rudeness of some Brahmins, who, by the noise 
they made, were determined to prevent the people 
from hearing what we wished to address to them. 
We, however, persevered, and made good our stand 
for two hours, and, though the Brahmins opposed, 
the common people heard us gladly. In returning 
to the river by the same way we entered, we com- 
menced a conversation with some people upon the 
banks of the river as they stopped us for books. A 
Brahmin averred that God was as truly the author of 
sin as he was of holiness. Upon his acknowledging 
that we were the offspring of God, I asked him if it 
was not excessively unreasonable to suppose that a 
father would lead his own children into evil. More- 
over, as God has forbidden men to commit sin, and 
would punish them in consequence of it, it is impos- 
sible that he should be the author of it ; and if God 
was the author of sin, we could have no motive for 
seeking the pardon of sin and deliverance from it, for 
whatever the best of beings does must be good and 
right ; and it would be wrong in us to seek any expe- 



250 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



client against it, therefore they might cease their daily 
sacrifices and ceremonies." 

Mr. Carey writes at this time, in allusion to the 
death of two missionaries: — ci Their deaths are all 
calculated to impress on our minds the importance of 
increased activity in our missionary pursuits, since 
the night is so fast approaching in which we shall no 
more be able to work. The field of labour is con- 
tinually widening before us as we advance ; looking 
backward, we seem to have made some little advance- 
ment ; but looking forward, we seem to be quite sta- 
tionary; — so immense is the difference between the 
extent of the whole and the littleness of that part, 
which is actively occupied by our labourers." 

Nov. 2nd. — As we were engaged in addressing 
the natives this morning, a Brahmin came up, who, 
after hearing for some time, began to object against 
the Gospel with considerable anger, and before 
he allowed himself time to be replied to, he lost 
patience, and turning off, left us, declaring that those 
who even lent their ears to hear what we preached, 
deserved to have them cut off. But, notwithstanding 
what he said, a good number of people continued to 
lend their ears, and that with great attention. This 
evening we went out, and collected a good number of 
people upon the high-road. But little was advanced 
by way of objection. 



JOURNAL. 



251 



Nov. 3rd. — Nothing to-day worthy of notice, either 
at the meeting-house by the road, or at the Baranagore 
worship this evening. 

Nov. 4th. — Went over the water to Sulkee, and 
obtained two excellent congregations, which occupied 
us between two and three hours. At the first place, 
I should think we had not less than one hundred 
people. After about an hour spent in singing a hymn, 
engaging in prayer, and addressing the people, a 
number of Brahmins being present, one of them 
commenced very earnestly, but in good temper, a 
dispute which lasted some time. The drift of his 
argument was to establish the consistency of the 
belief in, and worship of, a multitude of deities with 
the idea of the Divine unity. This he attempted, by 
affirming them to be so many parts or members of the 
one God, and they had assumed such forms as were 
best calculated to personify the different perfections of 
the same supreme essence. The way we combated his 
notion, was by showing that the attributes ascribed 
to these deities, and the actions they are said to have 
performed, are opposed to every idea we are able to 
form of the divine perfections ; whereas, if they had 
been parts of the one supreme and infinite essence, 
they would have discovered some affinity to him. 
However, this rather answered than silenced him. 

Generally speaking, the natives who follow the 
common idolatry (and the seceders are very few) are 



252 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



cast so much in the same mould, that the objections 
they bring forward against the Gospel are the same 
repeated day after day ; and when you have preached 
among them a few months, little is urged by them 
that bears the character of novelty. 

Nov. 10th. — Owing to the illness of our dear infant, 
Eustace, we removed to Calcutta on the 5th for me- 
dical advice. He was removed from us between one 
and two o' clock the next morning. We returned to 
our station yesterday morning, accompanied by our 
esteemed brother Chamberlain, who has come down 
the country for the purpose of restoring his health. 
It is matter of deep affliction to see so able a labourer 
laid aside from the work of the Lord; we humbly 
trust, however, that he will yet be spared for the 
good of the heathen. We went out this morning, 
and collected a good number of people on one of the 
large Ghauts. Though brother Chamberlain is much 
of an invalid, he could not bear to keep silence. He 
commenced the attack, but, being very weak, he was 
obliged soon to sit down ; yet, every now and then, 
when he thought the battle went hard against me, 
he would get up to my support. After we had 
addressed them at some length we sung a hymn, and 
our native brother concluded in prayer. 

This evening we went to Baranagore ; our congre- 
gation was pretty good and tolerably attentive. 
Brother Chamberlain again engaged, and, after the 
regular service was over, disputes were continued for 



JOURNAL. 



253 



some length, but most of the things advanced were 
what we have been in .the habit of hearing almost 
every day. 

Nov. 13th. — The congregation for the last three 
days has been much as usual, but scarcely any dis- 
puting, and no particular occurrences to note down as 
affording any interest. 

On the 7th, when brother Adams was supplying 
the station, a young lad, about seventeen years of 
age, presented himself as a religious inquirer, though 
without giving any very satisfactory account of him- 
self. However, our practice is to give some kind of 
trial to all who present themselves to us. He can 
read remarkably well, better, indeed, than I ever 
remember to have heard a native read the printed 
character. He reads each day five or six chapters in 
the Gospels regularly ; and in the evening I go over 
to Paunchoo's, and hear him read a portion of what 
he has been reading in the day, and explain it as well 
as I am able, and converse with him : but we have 
caught him in several lies. 

Nov. 14th. — We had but very few people this 
morning, and none disputed. After breakfast, bro- 
ther Paunchoo and I went to Baranagore, when, upon 
our commencement, several Brahmins came in for the 
express purpose, it was evident, of interrupting us. 
One of them, who seemed to be their leader, was 
excessively rude ; and, knowing a little English, he 
seemed to expect that our attention would be paid to 



254 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



him. We desired him to be silent, and that if he 
had anything he wished to say, he mnst reserve it 
until we had finished what we had to say, and that 
it would be a disgrace to him, a Brahmin, if he 
should behave worse than the poor despised people 
who were about him. After remaining about half 
an hour, until brother Paunchoo had concluded his 
address and I had commenced, finding no opportu- 
nity of effecting his purpose, he muttered something, 
and abruptly retired from the place. 

That class of natives that know but little, and 
have acquired a mere smattering of English, we 
invariably find the most daringly forward and 
captious. 

Prevented this afternoon from going to the iron 
foundry by a heavy shower of rain. 

Nov. 15th. — This morning we were obliged, after 
eight days' trial, to part with the young man, Seeb- 
chundra, above named. He had told so many lies, 
and given such proofs that he was in search for his 
belly, and not seeking salvation, that we thought it 
hopeless to retain him any longer. 

Nov. 17th. — After our regular worship in our 
meeting-house by the side of the road, we went out 
about half a mile into the city. Being in search of 
ground for a Bengalee meeting-house, I went to the 
house of a respectable native, who was in the habit of 
visiting brother Adams during his residence here. 
He attempted to dissuade me from expending strength 



JOUKNAL. 



255 



and money in so hopeless a cause as that of preaching 
the Gospel to the natives of Bengal ; adding, that he 
was persuaded they were too wicked to believe in 
Christ. He begged to know why, if Christ was the 
true Saviour, the Jews, his own countrymen, did not 
believe in him? I told him, that was amply ex- 
plained by the Evangelist J ohn, where it was declared 
that u Light was come into the world ; but that men 
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds 
were evil." He also requested me to explain the doc- 
trine of the Trinity. I told him that was not my 
business ; and before he determined to reject or to 
receive that doctrine, he had a previous question to 
decide — viz., Whether the Bible was a revelation from 
God to teach us the way of salvation. If we were 
assured of that point, we were then bound to receive 
whatever that taught, and our not being able to com- 
prehend the doctrine would be no reason whatever 
why we should reject it. He must be very conscious 
of a distinction between his body and soul, and knew 
also that they were united ; and yet he could give no 
account of the matter — how they were united. So 
there might be in the Divine existence both distinc- 
tion and union, and yet surpassing our comprehension 
as to the manner of its existence. 

After taking our leave of the above native gentle- 
man, we went about a quarter of a mile down the 
street, and collected a delightful congregation. It 
consisted of almost all sorts of people— Mussulmans, 



256 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

Brahmins, Sudras. Both myself and the native 
Christian engaged, and, after concluding, distributed 
a number of tracts. 

Nov. 20th. — Congregations much as usual these 
last two or three days, and nothing remains to be 
noted down of any interest. 

Nov. 22nd. — Our morning congregations, both by 
the road-side and at Baranagore, pretty good ; but 
we had none who disputed with us, and only one who 
received a tract. 

In the afternoon our attendance at the iron-foundry 
was very good. 

Nov. 23rd. — Our congregation was larger than 
usual to-day. At the meeting-house by the side of 
the road we found a rough antagonist, who deter- 
mined to occupy the time in speaking the praises of 
Hurry, and in reconciling a multitude of Debtas with 
the unity of God. The arguments were the same 
as in a similar instance stated above. We provided 
ourselves with a boat after breakfast, and w T ent down 
the river as far as Kidderpore, about six miles from 
the place where we live. 

The population in that direction is immense. We 
collected two good congregations, gave away to those 
who could read, and were desirous of them, all the 
books we had with us, and then returned home. 

Nov. 24th. — Our attendance very good to-day, both 
times, but especially at Baranagore this evening. The 



JOURNAL. 



257 



chapel was almost filled with attentive hearers. After 
concluding, a respectable Brahmin attacked us warmly, 
though with old weapons. The position he assumed 
was, that unless we could work miracles before their 
eyes, it was impossible to turn them to Christ. I 
had just been reading to them the miracle of Christ 
feeding 4000 persons with a few loaves and fishes ; 
but all will not do, unless we can work miracles, can 
do the same over again. 

It was urged upon them to consider the credibility 
of the testimony borne to this and other miracles ; 
and if that could not be shown to be in any degree 
suspicious, it was then their duty to believe them as 
much as if they had seen them performed ; and again, 
that miracles were not the things that were needed, 
but a heart well disposed towards God ; for instance, 
what could be a greater miracle than the rising of 
the sun amongst them from day to day ; yet who 
amongst them praised God for that universal bless- 
ing ? or who amongst them was disposed to him on 
that account ? 

However, this did not satisfy, and the dusk of the 
evening alone admonished us to close our contest. 

Nov. 25th. — After worship by the side of the road 
was over we went into the city. We stopped about 
a mile from our dwelling under the shade of a large 
tree. The people, remembering that we came among 
them about this time last year, behaved very politely 

s 



258 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY* 



to us, and brought a morah for me to sit upon. "We 
both addressed the people, but towards the end they 
became so crowded as to afford us but little opportu- 
nity of being heard. A number of Brahmins also at 
this time became noisy. When the truths of natural 
religion only are treated of, they behave very well ; 
but when from them we pass to the truths of the 
Gospel, as salvation through the death of Christ, they 
invariably betray impatience. We proceeded about a 
quarter of a mile, and collected another congregation, 
which, though not so numerous, was much more 
attentive. We distributed all our tracts, which took 
us some time, as we see more and more the necessity 
of being very careful to whom we give, otherwise we 
might give away ten times the quantity, but with 
little hope of doing good. 

Nov. 27th. — Our congregations these two days 
have been tolerably large, but no particular interest 
excited among them. 

Last evening a Brahmin came to our dwelling, 
whom I had accosted in the morning as he was pass- 
ing along the road. I offered to him a copy of the 
first number of our Harmony of the Gospels, lately out 
of the press, but he then refused, saying, he could 
not take anything from us then, nor stay to converse 
with us, as he had not performed his morning 
devotions, and should consequently be too late. He, 
however, made no scruple in the evening, but received 



JOURNAL. 



259 



the book, and conversed nearly half an hour with us 
upon religious subjects. 

Also another very respectable young man came and 
brought two of his neighbours with him. He has 
frequently been here before, when brother Adams 
lived here. His knowledge of the English language 
is very respectable, and he is well acquainted with 
the contents of the New Testament, especially with 
the Four Gospels. But his heart is unaffected. I 
pressed upon him the truths of salvation as well as I 
was able. I particularly begged him to reflect upon 
the great sin of living in idolatry with the knowledge 
he possessed of the Gospel, and the belief he professed 
in it. But though arguments and excuses failed him, 
what he heard seemed to make little impression on 
him. 

Nov. 28th. — Brother Adams and I collected but 
few people at worship on the road-side this morning, 
but our congregation at Baranagore was very good. 
A great deal of hardness of heart was exhibited, and 
a constant attempt to interrupt us ; but by answering 
some few questions, and promising to hear them more 
fully hereafter, we were enabled to get through our 
address. 

The great thing required of us was to work a mi- 
racle. Such remarks as these — " If we see you change 
any one's skin from black to white, or if you can give 
any one of us four hands instead of two, we will 

s 2 



260 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



"believe in Christ/' — were made, with other things of 
a similar nature. 

LETTER, ADDRESSED TO THE SOCIETY. 

u November. — In our native work either at Calcutta 
or Doorgapore we can relate no important success. 

" We have lately arranged a plan by which we are 
able to maintain worship in Hindostanee or Bengalee 
more frequently than before ; generally at the places 
of worship, sometimes in the houses of inquirers, and 
at other times in the open air. The place of worship 
mentioned in our last (the one built by the poor 
Portuguese woman), is nearly completed, and will 
be opened in a few days, and we doubt not, from 
its situation, will furnish an opportunity of pro- 
claiming the Gospel to thousands who never heard it 
before. With what success we must leave in the 
hands of him who has said — c I will give my Son the 
heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost part of 
the earth for his possession/ 

" Since we last gave you an account of the tract 
department, we have printed a small tract on the 
Evidences of Christianity in Sanscrit, and the first 
part of the Harmony of the Gospels in Bengalee, both 
prepared by ourselves ; with a Dialogue between a 
Priest and an Officer in Bengalee, written by a native 
brother. 

u The importance of the field of labour we occupy 



LETTER TO THE SOCIETY. 



261 



daily rises in our estimation. Independent of natives 
of every country in Europe and Asia who reside in 
this city, or visit it for the purposes of commerce, 
with whose residence here we were previously ac- 
quainted, we have during the last month been sur- 
prised by the discovery of a number of Thugs, who, 
being without the fetters of caste, open to missiona- 
ries a new and promising field of usefulness. Their 
numbers in this city amount to thousands, and from 
the natural friendship which subsists amongst natives 
of the same country in a foreign land, they form little 
neighbourhoods amongst themselves in different parts 
of the city, and from this circumstance, as well as from 
their understanding the Bengalee, render their in- 
struction the more easy. 

" As to the Hindoos and Mussulmans within our 
reach, we cannot pretend to number them. 

" The thought of their number and circumstances, 
contrasted with our weakness and fewness, is oppres- 
sive to our feelings. Could a member of our Society 
have visited us during the last month, and have be- 
held the multitudes of Hindoos who traversed our 
streets during the last festival of Kali, or have wit- 
nessed the innumerable throng of Mussulmen who 
for several days and nights passed our doors, beating 
their breasts in memory of Hussain and Hossain, and 
for a moment have indulged the reflection, ' Amongst 
this host there is not one who knows the only true 



262 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, whom to 
know is life eternal/ we are persuaded his heart would 
have melted ; and, if unable himself to have addressed 
them, the first retired place would have heard his 
fervent supplications on behalf of missionary exertions 
in this city. * O Lord send now prosperity ! Help, 
for vain is the help of man/ 

" Dear brethren, the harvest truly is plenteous, but 
the labourers are few and weak. The state of this city 
is lamentable beyond conception. Many, it is true, 
hear our addresses, assent to our doctrine, and many 
receive and read the Scriptures and tracts, but remain 
careless, hardened sinners still. The darkness of the 
understanding appears in some degree removed, but 
the veil that covers the heart is not yet rent, and 
your missionaries in this city, after nearly two years' 
anxious, in some degree they hope faithful, labours, 
though they lament it has been with zeal so little 
proportioned to the miseries of those around them, or 
the value of the blessings they are commissioned to 
offer, have yet to lament that no one through their 
instrumentality has been induced to lay hold of the 
hope set before them. 

u Notwithstanding this want of success, as it re- 
gards the conversion of sinners, we do not feel dis- 
couraged, and we affectionately hope that you, dear 
brethren, will not be weary nor faint in your mind. 

u Our Serampore brethren laboured long unsuccess- 



LETTER TO THE SOCIETY. 



263 



fully, till at last the chain of the caste was broken, and 
Krishna embraced the Saviour. Brother Judson, 
after numberless discouragements, has at length bap- 
tized a Burman, and entertains good hopes of several 
others ; and Otaheite, after twenty years' apparently 
fruitless labours, has yielded at once to the sceptre of 
the true God, and many of the inhabitants have been 
impressed with the love of Christ. And is the city 
of Calcutta, although it be wholly given to idolatry, 
to remain for ever in the power of the wicked ? and 
shall the standard of Immanuel be here only erected 
without success ? Are its inhabitants alone too wicked 
for Divine mercy to pardon, or too hardened for Om- 
nipotent grace to subdue? Oh no, we believe it not. 
Had we laboured twenty years instead of two, and still 
been unsuccessful, we should have no reason to 
despair. Simeon and Anna, and others who believed 
the Divine promises, waited with patience, and at last- 
unexpectedly beheld the Messiah in the flesh; and 
though we see at present but little that promises the 
universal extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, yet 
would we live by faith, yet will we labour in expecta- 
tion of a triumphant day for Zion. To our success, 
and the success of our missionary brethren, one thing 
only is necessary — an influence from on high. By the 
translation and printing of the Scriptures and tracts, 
and the preaching of the Word, the work is commenced. 
So by these means multitudes in different countries 



264 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



have read and heard, in their own tongue, the won- 
derful works of God. 

" But we painfully feel what all certainly confess, 
that without Divine influence nothing will be effected. 
Assist us, therefore, British Christians, by your 
prayers. In the retirement of the closet and at the 
family altar, as well as in your public assemblies, fer- 
vently supplicate for your missionaries in this country 
that cheering and animating influence by which alone 
this c solitary place shall be glad, and this wilderness 
rejoice and blossom as the rose/ 

" As we were going to Doorgapore this evening, 

Mrs. and myself called at the newly-erected 

school for Bengalee girls. As our visit was entirely 
unexpected, we were the more gratified with finding 
fifteen scholars diligently employed in writing the 
alphabet, figures, compound letters, &c. None of 
them appeared alarmed, as we had anticipated, by a 
European entering the school, but, on the contrary, 
seemed highly gratified by the attention paid to 
them." 



CHAP. XI. 



EFFECTS OF IDOLATRY — CIRCULAR ROAD 
CHAPEL — LETTERS. 

" Error is the most appalling when connected in its origin, or 
mixed np in its principles, with some confused notion — some 
profound, though obscure, feeling of the truth." — Schlegel. 

The reader will be able to judge from the foregoing 
Journal, bow true the missionary in India finds the 
above sentiment, and how little he is helped in his 
attempts to reform the general opinions of the people 
on religion, much less their practice, by the few truths 
which ages ago were placed at the foundation of their 
system of gross pantheism. 

Some modern writers seem to take great pleasure 
in the notion, that notwithstanding the admitted 
manifold practical evils of idolatry, its vice and 
cruelty, there is much to be found not only in 
its systems of belief, but in the very ferocious rites 
and barbarisms of heathendom, which if not Chris- 
tianity itself, is something very much allied to some 
portions of religious belief amongst us.* 

* Westminster Review, June, 1856. 



266 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Persons who hold this notion are for the most part 
found to be those who make a great boast of their 
charity and their universal brotherhood ; but who do 
less than any other men to alleviate the multiplied 
sorrows of those who hasten after another God. But 
this notion, which affords so much pleasure and relief 
to a host of philosophers and soi-disant philanthro- 
pists, is found by Protestant missionaries to have no 
particle of truth for its basis. If their testimony, 
which is one and universal, is to be taken on this 
subject, it must entirely overturn such a notion. It 
is in direct opposition to it, confirming as it does all 
the statements of Scripture as to the awfully appalling 
effects of idolatry on the heart and life. 

One of the missionaries writes : — Nothing sur- 
prises me more than to find how extremely limited 
are the points of agreement between a believer in the 
Hindoo and a believer in the Christian systems. 
How extremely few are the articles, even of natural 
religion, that can be adduced without contradiction.* 

* "Eroin the coincidence of certain conceptions in heathen 
mythology with truths and doctrines which are admitted by 
ourselves, we must be on our guard as to our conclusions. How 
much, for instance, would a man err who should suppose that there 
was any analogy in the Indian symbol and notion of the Divine 
triad, I do not say with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, but 
with the opinion of either of the Platonic schools. The third in 
this Divine triad, Seva, the god of destruction, appears evidently 
to be that demon of corruption who brought death into all cre- 
ation." — ScHLEGEL. 



EFFECTS OF IDOLATRY. 



267 



The Hindoo deity is a mere negation of all moral 
attributes." 

Besides, if Divine truth be really concealed amongst 
this chaos of things in the East, it is strange that no 
one should have groped his way to it, and have spread 
far and wide his experience and his success for the 
encouragement and instruction of others. Eut it is 
not so ; and the appalling fact that presents itself 
everywhere to the Christian missionary must still be 
kept before our mind, (for with this we have mainly, 
if not entirely to do,) that for the very few inhabitants 
of any heathen country whose practice is superior to 
their creed, there are hundreds of millions of whom 
it must be concluded, notwithstanding all their self- 
inflicted suffering and torture, that cc God is not in 
all their thoughts." Should not this startling fact 
alone be enough to shut out from such a subject 
all trifling or unjust remarks, and to lead even 
nominal Christians to study and weigh it for the 
incitement of their zeal and their pity too, if they 
possess any quality half so precious. 

The Christian teacher finds in India that not only 
are the religious doctrines which contain a modicum 
of truth unavailing, but the very portions of them 
which are traditional, and which float like fireflies 
around the Hindoo mind, making its darkness the 
more palpable, are a hindrance rather than a help. 
The following familiar sentences are given as illus- 



268 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



trative of this remark, and of the manner in which 
the Word of God is rendered by them of no effect. 
These traditional sentences are almost word for word 
with our own Scriptures. 

" There is one God, and not a second. Without 
shedding of blood is no remission. Sin is the trans- 
gression of the law." With these doctrines, and 
with that of incarnation so distinctly taught, a casual 
observer might suppose the Hindoos were quite 
prepared to receive the Gospel ; but he is prepared, 
alas ! on the contrary, most entirely to reject it. 

When the missionary stands up and takes a text 
from Scripture bearing on the above subjects, such as 
this — " Sin is the transgression of the law," the 
Hindoo recognises this instantly. How does he 
pervert it ? He interrupts the missionary, and says, 
" True — but of what law is sin the transgression ? 
Pray do you mean that which you hold in your 
hand ?" meaning the Bible. 

The missionary replies — "No, my brother, because 
that, I know, is no law to you/' 

"What then is sin?" says the sophist. 

" I will tell you, my brother," says the missionary. 
" When you went to the Bazaar this morning and 
bought an article for so much, and came and told 
your employer that you gave so much more for it 
than you actually did give, was that right or wrong ? 
Tell me I" While he slinks away ashamed and 



EFFECTS OF IDOLATRY. 



269 



confounded, the missionary exclaims in his hearing, 
"You see your law, my brother, and your trans- 
gression of it. Now hear me again : — c Sin is the 
transgression of the law/ 33 

All who dwell among idolaters find truly that man 
by wisdom knows not God ; and that nothing less 
than a positive revelation of himself in his Word and 
by his Spirit to the mind and heart can make any 
"wise unto salvation." In this respect it matters 
not much whether the man be Hindoo, Mussulman, 
or Englishman, the Divine process must be the 
same. 

The reader has learnt from the foregoing Journal 
how great the difficulty was to which the missionary 
was subjected, by this frivolous questioning, in his 
attempts to maintain seriousness and devotion. 

u What we have most to lament is that universal 
levity of character, and that total deficiency of principles 
and ideas upon all moral and Divine subjects, which 
render the natives fatally indisposed to think or speak 
with the least solemnity upon the most awful and 
momentous concerns. Sometimes, out of fifty or a 
hundred people, there are many whom, if you might 
judge from appearances, you would conceive to be 
engaged in solemn reflection ; but all in an instant 
some of them will toss up their heads, turn it off 
with a sneer or a j est, start from the place, and take 
with them ten or fifteen others. These discourage- 



270 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



nients are different, as we meet them in actual mis- 
sionary combat, to what they are when viewed only 
in distant prospect ; and are such as require strong 
faith in the Divine promises to overcome. 

" The very great obduracy and depraved state into 
which the natives of this country are sunk present 
an obstacle still more affecting, and which seems to 
bid defiance to human exertions. 

" While in all countries in which idolatry exerts its 
influence, it produces, in the human mind, cruelty, 
lust, hatred to God and Divine things, which com- 
pletely justifies the description given us of the heathen 
character in the Word of God ; it is our lot to labour 
among a people in whose characters are united all the 
above features, and added to cunning and fraud, 
which render our work peculiarly painful. 

"It frequently happens, as you will see by our 
letters, that the most promising appearances, after 
exciting anticipation, result in disappointment ; and 
are only profitable as they supply fresh reasons for 
sole dependence upon God, whose power alone can 
render our work successful. 

" We are very thankful to state that the attend- 
ance at the chapel this last month has been equal, if 
not superior, to any former time ; and we are now 
taking steps for obtaining ground for two additional 
places of worship in the very heart of Calcutta. 

" T\ e have begun a warfare with the empire of 



CIRCULAR ROAD CHAPEL. 



271 



Satan in this country, which we hope not to relin- 
quish till death, nor till some signal success shall have 
been granted, indicative of the eventual overthrow and 
complete destruction of his at present uncontrolled 
power. We desire still to labour, assured that success 
is certain, and that the kingdom of our Lord shall 
eventually embrace the world." 

The mention of one other beautiful work, completed 
by our missionaries in Calcutta in the year 1822, 
must not be omitted here. This was the erection of 
Circular Road Chapel, a building most chaste, simple, 
and refreshing to the sight. To the biographer of 
Mr. Carey it must be an object of interest, for he 
was a chief collector of the whole amount needed to 
defray its erection. Two or three hours were devoted 
to this work every day for some time, for which he 
was abundantly repaid by the great encouragement 
and success which he met with in Calcutta, from 
persons of all ranks in society, and all denominations 
of Christians, who seemed much gratified when asked 
to contribute their aid to this object. Many times 
in after-life the evening hour was beguiled by some 
fire-side relation of Indian life, when this collecting 
for the chapel was also mentioned. He told how 
he used up two or three horses in going about ; at 
length he obtained a stubby sort of little horse, which 
suited well for the work. 

Some of the rich natives gave their contributions 



272 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



most willingly, and singular were some of the ren- 
contres which he occasionally had. When collecting 
either for chapel or schools, one of them replied 
that he would give with pleasure, " for he had great 
respect for Jesus Christ." 

To this Bethel, so soothing and resting to the 
spirit of him who has just turned aside from the dis- 
tressing sights and sounds — the misery and sin of 
idolatry — the wearied missionary, or the heart-stricken 
worshipper, may go as to the inner sanctuary of his 
soul, where dwells the Divine Comforter, for peace 
and quiet. At evening time this was a joy, a rest, a 
consolation, and long will it stand, speaking out this 
motto — " Return unto thy rest, O my soul ; for the 
Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." Yes, there 
is rest even here for the weary pilgrim, the keeping 
of a Sabbath ; for they who have believed do enter 
into rest — that rest of which this house for God, in 
the precincts of idolatry and confusion, is the apt 
symbol. Here is the worship of Jehovah maintained 
in the service of song and prayer ; here the adminis- 
tration of the Divine ordinances, the faithful preaching 
of the Word of Life, from whence the living waters 
are ever flowing, and are as fresh and as pure at 
this day as when these servants of Christ, now in the 
upper sanctuary at the fountain head of bliss, saw 
them issue from under the threshold of this sanctuary. 
Since their time the stream which flowed thence has 



JOURNAL. 



273 



deepened and widened ; and now it is a river to swim 
in, which no man can pass over. " Return unto thy 
rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully 
with thee !" 

The following extracts, continuing the narrative of 
Mr. Carey's labours, are from his own pen : — 

"Nov. 2nd, 1820. — As Paunchoo and I were this 

evening walking to B , we observed ten or twelve 

persons standing round a Sunyasee, who was sitting 
cross-legged, almost naked, and covered over with 
ashes from head to foot, under the shade of a tree. 
He professed to have relinquished all carnal and 
worldly enjoyments ; but, after engaging in conversa- 
tion with him, we soon discovered from his incoherent 
answers and red eyes, as well as from the presents 
which the people were making, and the remains of 
former gifts that we saw lying before him, that he 
was in a state of intoxication from smoking Gouja, 
a drug of most pernicious qualities, but in very com- 
mon use among the lowest and most depraved classes 
of natives. 

"Turning from him, therefore, we sang a hymn, 
read a portion of Scripture, and then addressed the 
crowd which had by this time assembled round us, 
exposing the hypocrisy of the Sunyasee, and the total 
insufficiency, even if he were sincere, of bodily aus- 
terities or outward observances of any kind whatever, 
to procure the pardon of sin and the favour of God. 

T 



274 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



"The idea of obtaining justification in the sight of 
God through the righteousness of another, is at the 
farthest possible remove from all the religious concep- 
tions of this people. Whether it be the performance 
of the daily ceremonies of bathing in the Ganges, 
repeating the name of a deity, self-inflicted penances, 
abstraction from worldly cares, Divine meditations, 
or whatever else, it is always something which they 
themselves do that they conceive renders them accep- 
table in the sight of God. This, it is true, is an 
affection of the natural mind in the more privileged 
European, as well as in the Hindoo ; but in the latter 
it is formed into system, established by authority, 
supported by example, inculcated by their teachers, 
aided by sensible representations, and altogether 
makes such a formidable resistance to the humbling 
doctrines of the Gospel, as fully to convince me that 
Divine power alone can subdue the obduracy of their 
hearts, and bring down their high imaginations to 
the obedience of the faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

"Nov. 5. — Paunchoo and I went out to the public 
road, and collected a small congregation. A company 
of Mussulmans, twelve or fourteen in number, passing 
by, stood to listen, but, hearing us speak in Bengalee, 
immediately went away, saying it was intended for 
the Hindoos, and not for them. Every man prefers 
being spoken to in his own language, and, unless he is 
so addressed, it is with the utmost difficulty he can 



JOURNAL. 



275 



be made to believe a person in earnest who speaks to 
him on the subject of religion. This seems to be 
natural, because it is general ; for whether you speak 
of English, Hindoos, Mussulmans, Portuguese, or 
Armenians, (all to be found in Calcutta,) the remark 
which has been made is equally applicable to every 
one of them ; and hence the importance of acquiring 
all, or at least most of these languages, in order fully 
to do the work of an evangelist in this large and 
populous city. The remark may be extended further, 
for a learned Hindoo rejects with disdain a tract 
offered to him, unless it is written in Sanscrit ; and 
learned Mussulmans would treat, I suppose, in nearly 
the same way, anything offered to them in Hindos- 
tanee, while they would probably read with attention 
the same tracts if presented in Persian. 

"Nov. 26th. — This morning at Baranagur we 
principally endeavoured to repel the objections which 
the natives bring against Christianity, by saying that 
they acknowledge and believe in one Supreme Being, 
and that if Jesus Christ is that Supreme Being, there 
can no harm arise from merely rejecting the name, if 
they worship the person. c He that knoweth not 
the Son, knoweth not the Father who hath sent 
him/ 

"Jan. 1821. — I went in company with our native 
brother, Paunchoo, to Baranagur. I read part of the 
5th of John, and spoke of the case of the impotent man 

T 2 



276 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



at the pool of Bethesda. Our congregation amounted 
to more than fifty persons. Most of them heard 
attentively, and went away without a reply. Towards 
the close two persons sought occasion to scoff, but 
finding none except a few boys to second them, they 
left us. I dwelt at some length upon their hardness 
of heart, in having heard the Gospel now for nearly 
two years, and none of them had yet turned to God. 

et Jan. 4th. — Had worship this evening by the side 
of the road. Paunchoo read to them, and explained, 
the parable of the c Tares of the field/ He insisted 
particularly upon the solemnities of the day of judg- 
ment. When Paunchoo had concluded, one of our old 
adversaries, whom I well remember to have opposed 
us a year ago, said : — c We preached salvation by 
Jesus Christ, but as for him, he could not believe 
without some sensible demonstrations/ He added, 
that ' the Brahmins inculcated the worship of the 
Debtas as essential to salvation ; and that if a person 
could subdue his passions and live austerely, he would 
be saved/ I replied, that yesterday I had seen a 
number of the very persons he referred to, who had 
left father and mother and their own native places, 
and in a shameless manner went about almost naked, 
and begged for their living. But they themselves 
were able to judge that could not be the way to 
obtain salvation; for God had given us our bodies 
that we might take care of them ; and if we were all 



JOURNAL. 



277 



to take up with a vagrant life, I asked who would be 
left to feed us ? Moreover, they all knew that this 
sort of people were of all others the most proud and 
lascivious. I confessed that the religion of Christ was 
altogether different from this, as it called upon us to 
honour our father and mother, and to engage honestly 
in the duties of life, and as it secured the destruction 
of human pride, by calling upon us to repent of sin 
and believe in another for salvation. Upon this, our 
antagonist leaving, a young Brahmin came up quite 
hot for the encounter. The point he contended for 
was the necessity of implicitly following the gooroos 
as guides. It was asked him, amongst other things, 
whether, if his gooroo was to go with him to market 
and instruct him to give ten rupees for an article 
which was worth but one, he would follow his direc- 
tion ? If then in temporal things he would examine 
and decide for himself, he ought to do so in matters 
of salvation. He dealt out a considerable portion of 
invective, and the evening drawing on, he went 
his way. 

"Nov. 5th. — We have on our premises two or three 
hundred people, all on their way to Gunga Saugur 
from the Nepaul country. But holy as these people 
are, or would be thought to be, one of them was 
caught thieving about sixteen rupees this morning 
from one of the women travelling with them ; more- 
over, he was a Brahmin. 



278 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



"We had a tolerable congregation on the side of 
the road. I read part of Matt, xv., and insisted parti- 
cularly on the words — "In vain do ye worship me, 
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." 
Two persons cavilled. One of them said, e You assert 
that we cannot be saved but by believing in Jesus. 
I may as well assert that, unless you believe in our 
Debtas, you will never be saved/ I endeavoured to 
explain and to show the truth of what we advanced. 
Paunchoo closed in prayer, and silence was obtained. 
I have often seen that we are almost sure of atten- 
tion when engaged in prayer, however unsettled the 
congregation may be during the discourse. 

u Nov. 7th. — We had a good number of people this 
morning at Baranagur, though no disputing whatever. 
One old man heard very attentively for upwards of 
half an hour. 

In the midst of brother P/s discourse, a man came 
up rather hastily, and demanded what sin was ? We 
replied, as we have often done when the same question 
has been put to us, that sin was the breach of God's 
law. I never felt the force of those words of John — 
€ Sin is the transgression of the law/ — until I came 
into this country, where all are groping in the dark 
respecting the very first questions of a moral nature. 
< cc In the evening brother Paunchoo and I went to 
Dum-Dum, where we had a congregation consisting 
of nearly forty of our countrymen, all very attentive. 



JOURNAL. 279 

After preaching to the heathen, with whom we have 
few ideas in common, and with whom we have to 
communicate through a foreign medium, it affords a 
pleasing contrast to be able to announce the truths of 
salvation to those with whom we have a common lan- 
guage, and to whom the ideas and phraseology of the 
Bible are in some measure familiar. 

"Nov. 10th. — A Bengalee, in the capacity of a 
Sircar, came to us this morning in quest of some books. 
The Bengalee female, for whom he manages a shop, re- 
ceived a tract some little time ago, when our brethren 
were preaching, and, being much struck with the 
contents of it, was anxious to make further inquiries. 

"Nov. 11th. — We continued a considerable time at 
the place of worship by the road-side this afternoon* 
As we were commencing, we saw a few persons who 
had been offering to Kali. We called them to us, 
and began by interrogating them as to what they 
could expect from such devotions. Some of them 
turned it off with a smile, and said that was the way 
they had been taught. I tried to impress upon them 
the heinous sin of idolatry. 

"While Paunchoo was discoursing, a number of 
persons came up, who discovered an evident uneasiness, 
and a desire to commence disputing. One began by 
asking, what was necessary in a sinner's coming to 
Christ ? We told him it was requisite he should re- 
pent of his sins ; and illustrated it with a comparison 



280 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



or two taken from earthly things. Another, an old 
adversary of ours, who encountered us more than a 
year ago, said we could give no sign that would be 
satisfactory that salvation could be obtained by Christ. 
c For instance/ said he, c we constantly see one sun 
and one moon ; now, if you make them two, we will 
believe in Christ/ Again, * If we could see that you 
Christians were delivered from death, then we might 
believe V — c An adulterous and wicked generation 
seeketh after a sign/ 

u Went this morning in company with brother 
Paunchoo to Earanagur, where we remained for nearly 
two hours. Our hearers, however, did not come in so 
freely as usual ; but we were obliged to call them in, 
and begin by directing questions to one or two only, 
till they became sufficient in number to enable us to 
address them more regularly and at greater length. 
An old Brahmin came towards the close, and held 
brother Paunchoo in debate for some time, and afforded 
a considerable degree of pleasure to his countrymen 
by representing us as people of no caste, destined, he 
said, according to the predictions of their Shastras, to 
destroy the caste and customs of other people. Brother 
Paunchoo, however, wearied him out by patiently 
urging upon him those difficulties respecting their 
Shastras, which he knew not how to solve. 

"The person who came on the 10th came to-day 
according to appointment. The female about whom 



JOURNAL. 



281 



lie spoke came also in a palanquin, with a man before 
her carrying a very handsome present of fish, plan- 
tains, and oranges. She was attended also with her 
durwan, doorkeeper, and three children. She was 
more richly dressed than I recollect to have seen a 
Bengalee female before. They brought with them 
the tract, which was the first they had ever seen. I 
asked what she knew of Christ. She replied that 
they were come for the purpose of hearing. I endea- 
voured to explain as briefly as I was able the plan of 
salvation, by showing the necessity of an atonement 
for sin, the way in which Christ accomplished that 
atonement, and what was necessary on our part for 
obtaining an interest in it. 

a X then read and explained the third of John, 
particularly the first twenty verses. After further 
conversation we sung the Bengalee hymn — c O, my 
heart, forget not him who gave away his own life 
for the redemption of sinners/ After dinner they 
requested to hear another hymn. We sung them 
two more native compositions, and another translated 
from the English. 

"They remained with us about four hours. "We 
promised to return the visit. The woman is a widow 
possessed of some considerable property, and seems 
altogether a sensible woman, considering she cannot 
read, and is obliged to have everything read and 
explained by others. I had some considerable con- 



282 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



versation about establishing an additional girls' 
school, which she is anxious to see accomplished. 
We are not able to discern that deep concern of mind 
which accompanies salvation, but we are, nevertheless, 
much gratified, and believe there is reason to hope ; 
and what renders the whole more pleasing and 
striking is, that they were entirely unknown to us, 
unsought after, and have made their way to us, 
having been led in the first instance by no other cir- 
cumstance that we know of but that of receiving a 
religious tract. 

"Nov. 16th. — The few people we were able to collect 
this evening displayed a distressing degree of levity. 
Two persons, one a very ignorant poor man, and 
another apparently in very good circumstances, and 
of competent understanding, asserted the very same 
things, though they came to us at distinct intervals, 
namely, that God was absolutely, and in the same 
sense, the author of sin and misery, as well as of all 
the holiness and felicity there are in the world. The 
consequence, as they readily confessed, was that they 
totally denied their accountability. The rich man 
left us asserting there was no hell, and the poor man 
told us he thought he suffered enough in the present 
world. Bengalees speak of God, and heaven, and 
hell with infinitely less solemnity than they do of 
rice and cowries. 

" Nov. 17th. — Went up the river as far as Dukhin- 



JOUKNAL. 



283 



sane, where we took our stand upon a pretty large 
Ghaut, and continued about an hour and a half, first 
disputing with a Brahmin whom we found bathing 
and performing poojah. He stated that he worshipped 
Gunga and the sun, and many other things held 
sacred by them, under the idea that they were divine; 
and, to reconcile this notion with the unity of God, 
he boldly asserted that God was everything, and 
everything was God. I have never, that I recollect, 
found a Hindoo who discovered the least hesitation 
in admitting any consequences that might be urged 
as flowing from his opinions, however repugnant 
they may be to the nature of God or man. The fact 
is, their levity is such as renders it next to impossible 
that conviction should ever reach their hearts. Never 
could a people more exemplify the extent of human 
depravity, and its force in hardening the heart, and 
in showing the indispensable necessity of an Almighty 
influence to give effect to the Gospel, than the 
Hindoos. 

" January, 1823. — On the first Sabbath in Septem- 
ber last, 1822, were baptized, at the new chapel in Cal- 
cutta, Mr. Harle, lately in connexion with the London 
Missionary Society; Serjeant Parry, of the Governor- 
GeneraFs body-guard, and a young Brahmin, named 
Anunda, a very promising convert, the first fruits of 
the Doorgapore station. It was, say our brethren, a 
very solemn occasion, and many of the congregation 



284 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



were in tears during the service. In the evening we 
commemorated the death of our dear Saviour, and 
were much refreshed we trust by his presence. 

" Our friends in England will soon hear of the 
death of Anunda ; but it will be matter of thankful- 
ness to them to learn that we have now at the station 
another Brahmin, who bids fair to be a second Anunda, 
the fruit of the Doorgapore station. 

cc Three years ago he was with us for some time, 
and read through Matthew and part of Mark, and 
then left us at the importunity, it seems, of an elder 
brother, a lawyer in the native courts, a man of con- 
sequence, and a great opposer of the Gospel. After 
three years he unexpectedly returns, and seems more 
hopeful than ever before. I had quite forgotten thai 
such a person had been amongst us, and Paunchoo seems 
to have had not the least expectation of his returning. 
And after being long forgotten by us, he came one 
night, and walking slowly up to Paunchoo's house, ex- 
claimed, 'Brother? ' Who are you?' was the reply. 
' I am Bagungee, the Brahmin, who was with you at 
such a time, and read the holy book. / am come alone, 
with my life in my hand P He was of course welcomed, 
supplied with a room, and has commenced reading the 
Scriptures as before, and is very diligent. The Lord 
deepen conviction upon his heart, and give him to his 
little church here as a brand plucked out of the fire. 
I sincerely trust this instance of Divine mercy, for I 



JOURNAL. 



285 



cannot but hope the hand of God is in it, will tend to 
remove my scepticism. Often I speak upon the sub- 
ject of salvation by Christ, rather as a duty than as a 
delight, and when persons present themselves for 
inquiry I am apt to decide upon it as a bad case in 
my own mind before I scarcely exchange a word ; and 
the many cases wherein we have had persons here for 
a little time, who have then abruptly left us, or given 
us cause to dismiss them, produced upon our minds a 
great degree of unbelief, and almost a temper of 
despondency, but God is to be trusted through all 
outward discouragements. 'I had fainted unless I 
had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the 
land of the living. Lord increase my faith, and the 
faith of my companions in the kingdom and patience 
of Jesus Christ/ 

" The first conversation that I had with him left 
rather a doubtful impression upon my mind, but I have 
been better pleased the longer he has remained. The 
first morning, after a little conversation, he asked me 
whether or not infants were accounted sinners, and 
so in a state of condemnation. Instead of giving any 
direct reply, I recited the passage from Luke : p Lord, 
are there few that be saved V and took occasion to 
insist upon the importance of a serious attention to 
our own salvation. 

"Jan. 10th. — The Brahmin continues to give in- 
creasing satisfaction. His diligence in reading the 



286 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Scriptures is very pleasing, and the increase of Chris- 
tian knowledge proportionate. I have also perceived 
a very marked propriety in his deportment, no irre- 
verence and levity, nor any unprofitable remarks. 
His diligence in reading the Scriptures puts me in 
mind of that illustration of the kingdom of God in 
the man who w r ent out seeking goodly pearls. He 
truly answers the character of an inquirer, for the 
whole of his work seems to be the attainment of 
Scriptural truth. I have greater hope of him 
than ever I entertained of Anunda, previous to his 
baptism. He appears to have much more application 
and more determined seriousness, though he is an 
older man, and therefore it might be expected. 

u In our place of worship this morning he made 
some very seasonable remarks to the people who were 
collected to hear him. His Brahminical thread, ma- 
las, &c, he has taken off, and given to brother Penney. 
Being a Brahmin of the Cooley caste, he might live 
in luxury if he pleased ; but he says, ' having found 
the way of life/ he has as much as he needs. His 
brother, who is wealthy, says he will maintain him if 
he will leave us and go home. He says in reply : — 
f You know I have been this way ever since I was 
here three years ago, and I am and shall be a Chris- 
tian/ Three or four people were sent by his brother to 
parley with him, but it was to no effect. 

" I have often remarked, however the people may 



JOURNAL. 



287 



have conducted themselves during preaching, they 
are generally attentive at prayer-time; and I re- 
member dear brother Chamberlain observing the same 
thing. 

" The Brahmin, Bagungee, after prayer was over 
this evening, making some remarks on that chapter 
in Luke where the Lord delivers the talents to his 
servants, and not getting through very readily, 
Paunchoo observed the meaning of it was to teach us 
faithfulness in our Lord's service. Sitting a minute 
or two longer, he added, 'We are very idle. Our 
Lord used to pray whole nights, we with difficulty 
pray an hour — we should pray more/ Truly, if great 
things in the healing of bodily distempers were not to 
be expected without prayer and fasting, what can we 
reasonably look for in the way of conversions, among 
such a people as it falls to our lot to labour for, with- 
out an increased spirit of faith and prayer/' 

AFFECTING- INTEEVIEW WITH A DYING- INFIDEL. 

"A gentleman of my acquaintance informed me 
that he had been kept up the preceding night in draw- 
ing out the will of a person whose life was considered 
in extreme danger. The disease had been induced 
through anxiety respecting a lawsuit, in which he had 
endeavoured to resist a fraud that had been practised 
on him to a considerable amount. 

" I called upon him twice, and found him able to 



288 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



understand what was said, willing to hear and to 
make many concessions respecting the wickedness and 
carelessness of his past conduct, but hitherto wholly 
ignorant of the power of religion, and even but little 
acquainted with the leading facts of revelation. He 
is captain of a ship, and, I have been informed, has 
been a noted duellist, having shot three men in his 
time. His circumstances are very affecting, and yet 
he is only one of many who suffer from injustice, 
tyranny, and fraud — only one of many who, groaning 
under the stings of conscience and the disappointments 
of life, do not have recourse to the balm of Gilead — 
the cure for every wound — the solace of every grief. 
" Jan. 14th. — This evening brother Yates and I 

called upon Captain , but were received in a very 

different manner from what my former conversation 
with him had given me reason to expect. We were 
met at the door by a young man, whom I had seen 

there before, and who assured us that Captain 

was at present quite insensible, and consequently 
unable to understand anything we might say to him. 
We, however, entered, and found him very ill, but not 
worse than he had been the day before. After a short 
pause, gasping for breath, and scarcely able to articu- 
late his words, he assured us that he was determined 
not to change his religious views, and begged us to 
say nothing to him respecting religion, observing 
that if he listened to us we should hurry him to the 



JOUKNAL. 



289 



grave; and that our religion was not sufficiently 
mild for him. We asked what religion could be more 
mild than that which held out to view a Saviour full 
of compassion and love, who had given his life for his 
enemies, and was willing to receive them into his 
favour, even after a life spent in opposition to his 
will. He said : — " Gentlemen, it is of no use to talk ; 
your religion is too severe for me, it is too severe for 
me." We asked if he would permit us to pray with 
him; he said, "I had rather not:" or to call again, "I 
think you had better not." We were both much 
affected. He died two days after. 

Mr. Carey often recited this anecdote, and exhi- 
bited it as illustrative of the fearful effects of infidelity. 
" How surprising," he has said, u is it that a creature 
in a world of ever-living, ever-present miracle ; in the 
face of this fair creation in which are reflected, as in 
a mirror, the perfections of the great Eternal mind, 
that any one should say 'in his heart there is no 
God/ " May we not unite in the lament of our devout 
poet in this case also, and say, 

" If ever thou hast felt another's pain, 
If ever when he sighed hast sighed again ; 
If ever on thine eyelid stood the tear 
That pity had engendered, drop one here." 

Who could suppose it possible that a responsible 
creature could so cruelly cut away the fibres of faith 

TJ 



290 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



from their root in God ; and with these alike wither- 
ing faith's green outgrowth and the fair blossoms of 
his belief which are to be found in a living, gladsome 
hope. 

Like the silent, gradual, determined effects of cold 
on the high Alps or the northern regions of the 
globe, such is this influence on the heart. The day 
has departed, no ray of rosy light is left on the 
highest mountain-top ; every particle of moisture is 
extracted from every living thing ; all foliage of trees 
or plants, every blade of grass is stiffened and cold in 
death; — nature itself, in awful sublimity, is enshrouded, 
and ready for the tomb. Such is the cold isolation of 
the soul's death in "rest from all consciousness of moral 
obligation/'' In such a case it is too evident where 
C( severity" lies ; not in our religion, but in the mental 
process by which the affections have been steeled — in 
the fact that the last pulse in the human conscious- 
ness has struck out the heart's funeral knell, apprising 
the whole range of the vital faculties, that it hath 
ceased to be for ever. Surely it were better to dwell 
among the morasses of the Niger, and to worship 
the loathsome Iguana, or, with the old Egyptians, 
the leeks and onions, than to be thus cut off from all 
hope, and to remain a blot, a contradiction, a lie upon 
the earth ! 

Of native female education the missionaries write, 
in July, 1821 : — "We entertain great hopes that our 



LETTEKS. 



291 



attempts at the education of Hindoo females will 
eventually succeed. Having at last secured a quali- 
fied Hindoo woman as a teacher, we are now building 
a small school-room for an experiment, and to-day I 
find she has twelve Hindoo girls as scholars. This 
may appear to our friends in England but a trifling 
advance, unless they recollect that this is the first 
school for heathen girls established for centuries in 
this vast city, and, with two exceptions, in this exten- 
sive country, containing nine times the population 
of the British isles ; and take into account the 
determined prejudice which exists in the minds of the 
majority of Hindoos on the subject. 

"A school-room built, a mistress found, and twelve 
scholars collected, who can tell but the progress of 
female education may yet be rapid ? w 

These were most cheering anticipations, and were 
confirmed by another of the brethren, who wrote a 
few days afterwards : — " We have just erected a little 
school-room for the instruction of Hindoo girls, at the 
expense of a little society formed in our young ladies' 
seminary ; and have been so happy as to meet with a 
Bengalee woman who can read and write, and who is 
willing to act as teacher. 

" She has already eighteen regular scholars, besides 
nine or ten more (who attend occasionally at first, 
till they can overcome the shame which attends being 
known to go to school), and nearly twenty under the 

u 2 



292 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



care of schoolmasters, so that we have already nearly 
fifty under instruction ! At last several Hindoo gen- 
tlemen do not scruple to say, that ' perhaps girls may 
be able to learn, and that instructing them may be a 
good thing/ We anticipate a considerable extension of 
our exertions in this department during the present 
and succeeding years." 

ELUCIDATION OF MARK IV. 26. 

"In the preparation of the Harmony of the Four 
Gospels I came to that parable where Christ describes 
the influence of his Gospel upon the hearts of men 
by the simile of seed cast into the ground, which 
sprung and grew up imperceptibly. This I thought 
was very applicable to the state of things with us in 
this city ; we, together with our fellow-labourers, are 
casting in this seed, we ' sleep and rise night and 
day/ but we perceive no effects. We call to repent- 
ance, but none seem to obey the call. The natives 
collect in numbers to hear the Word of God pro- 
claimed ; they listen sometimes attentively, some- 
times they nod assent to what we say, and some 
appear cordially to approve. At other times they 
ridicule or oppose with virulence; but the service 
concludes, the people disperse again, and all seems 
forgotten. 

" But are we not encouraged from this parable to 
hope and patiently wait for the salvation of God? 



LETTEES. 



293 



May there not be in the minds of many of the natives, 
though quite unknown to us, degrees of light and 
conviction, struggling with doubt and error, which 
may finally lead to saving consequences, though the 
progress may be imperceptible, and the result tediously 
delayed?" 



CHAP. XII. 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN — THE ORIGIN OF THEIR 
DISTINCT WORK IN CALCUTTA. 

" Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell 
together in unity ; in that unity of the Spirit which originates 
and strengthens the bond of peace. It is like £ the precious 
ointment/ which regales the senses, and the perfume of whose 
presence makes the lips of them that sleep to speak !" 

Seventeen years before the events now to be re- 
corded took place, the following sentence was penned 
and addressed to a friend by the noble-hearted founder 
of this missionary enterprise : — " And thus, amidst a 
thousand difficulties, we are attempting to prepare 
materials for the temple of the living God in this 
country." When these materials had been prepared 
and fitted together, without the sound of the work- 
man's hammer, — as were those materials used in the 
erection of that glorious building on the top of Mount 
Moriah, — who did not, on casting an eye to India, to 
these workers in gold and in silver, in wood and in 
stone, from the first artificer there, down to the mere 
hewers of wood and drawers of water, exclaim, u Be- 
hold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to 
dwell together in unity ?" 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



295 



When this house for God in India, "this joy of 
the whole earth," began to stand erect amidst Hindoo 
idolatry and English irreligion, and long after the 
missionaries had fearlessly said, like true Englishmen 
as well as true Christians to an opposing govern- 
ment, " "Whether it be right in the sight of God to 
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye;" — 
when it had erected its altar, and attracted, by 
means of its various stations on the continent and 
islands of the sea, more than a thousand to its shrine, 
and ten thousand to its outer-court worship — when its 
sublime silence had been broken only by the higher 
praises of God, ascending as its daily incense from the 
worshippers, a u sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing 
to God," a strange anomaly was presented ! The 
noise of the workmen and their tools was heard dis- 
tinctly, and then confusedly in their screechy disso- 
nance ; and in this respect " our glorious and our 
beautiful house " # 'on the continent of India, shared the 
fate of all other human structures. 

And not only so, — when God's own gifts had de- 
scended on these builders who erected the house in 
all but Pentecostal power and variety, in the won- 
derful gift of tongues, in the herculean bodily 
strength and apostolic pertinacity in labour, in the 
flexible, versatile talent, the eloquent utterance, and, 
what was best of all, in the saving influence of the 
Divine Spirit on the souls of the heathen, ce as the 



296 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



dew of Hermon and the dew that descended on the 
mountains of Zion," — this strange reverse took place, 
as if the degrees in our sun-dial had been ruthlessly 
thrust back, and so far gone as to give no index of 
time ; as if chaos would take the place of order, night 
of day, disseverance of union, discord of peace. " How 
is the gold become dim! the most fine gold changed !" 

But he who in the beginning cast his cormorant 
eye of envy on two who lived together in unbroken 
harmony was not unobservant of the advantage which 
he would gain, both as to time and influence, by his 
mingling discord amongst these eight or ten sons of 
God in the East. A keen and devout writer says, — 
" Oh, that I could a sin once see This he con- 
ceived would be a great advantage ; but how much 
more so to the Church of God, if some of its members 
could but see sometimes the foul spirit which works 
amongst them so darkly even in the sunshine of their 
prosperity. Luther certainly had this advantage once 
at Wartburg, when he threw his ink-bottle at the 
devil. And now, if we may judge from subsequent 
events, this same Evil One seems to have placed him- 
self on some elevated spot here in India (perhaps on 
one of the trees in Dr. Carey's garden), to have 
viewed well the scene, and then to have thought 
aloud thus : — " Is not this great Babylon that I have 
built for the house of the kingdom, by the might 
* George Herbert. 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



297 



of my power and for the honour of my majesty !" 
Had Dr. Carey, — who was in the habit of visiting his 
garden every morning at sun-rise for prayer and 
meditation, and who said, in his journal, " I some- 
times walk in my garden and try to pray to God, 
and if I pray at all it is in the solitude of a walk," — 
seen Satan's imp squatting there, he would have 
been aware of him, and have said, (as good Dr. 
Luther did) when writing to a friend who procured 
him some garden seeds, a If Satan and his imps rave 
and roar, I shall laugh at him, and admire and 
enjoy God's blessing in the garden." But ever since 
the prayer-conflict of Deity, wrapped in the garment 
of humanity in the garden of Gethsemane, the Evil 
One has had less resort to this spot. The full city, 
where the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of 
riches, and the lust of other things supply ample 
covert for his secret and subtle working, suits him 
best. 

At this time (we go back in our chronology to the 
year 1817) the painful misunderstanding commenced 
between the Serampore missionaries and the Society 
at home, to w T hich allusion has been before made 
here. This distressing occurrence, and the differences 
which arose between the elder missionaries and 
younger on the spot, ultimately changed the whole 
plan of missionary operations in Calcutta, and led 
the latter to the occupation of an independent, and, 



298 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



in most respects, a new sphere of action in this vastly 
extended field of labour. 

It is by no means the design of the writer to dis- 
cuss the merits of this painful affair, which, after ten 
years' correspondence and attempted adjustment, led 
to a separation of the principal parties, — the Seram- 
pore Missionaries and the Parent Society, in 1827. 

Although recording the life of one of the "Junior 
Brethren/' the writer is thankful to remember that 
this matter now lives as history only; and it is hoped 
the reader will fully understand that as history only 
it is introduced here now. As the biographer of one 
who shared so largely, both abroad and at home, in 
bearing the burden which this disagreement origi- 
nated ; as he was, moreover, from the beginning to 
the end of the whole affair, one of the Society's 
public vindicators, it is concluded that any record of 
his life would be incomplete which supplied not a few 
sentences expository of the part which he took in it, 
and which expounded not the views which he held in 
relation thereto.* 

In order to do this, the writer must refer to the 
chief matter in dispute between the parties. This 
had reference to funds which, in the course of years, 

* Should any reader wish for further information upon this 
subject, he can obtain it by referring to the records of these 
times at the Baptist Mission House. The Life of Dr. Yates also 
gives an analysis of the whole subject. 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



299 



had increased at Serampore, and which at this time 
consisted of certain vested property held by the mis- 
sionaries there in the name of the Society in England, 
which sent them out, and which yearly contributed 
largely to the support of their objects. In order to 
preserve this and other surplus property intact to the 
Society, a missionary family union was formed by Dr. 
Carey and his colleagues in 1799, and strictly main- 
tained for many years. The principle then laid down, 
and which was repeatedly referred to by Dr. Carey in 
his correspondence, formally placed before the com- 
mittee in 1816, and fully recognised by the Chris- 
tian public at home, was, " that all property in lands 
or moveables already acquired, or which may here- 
after be acquired, shall be held by the Serampore 
mission family station as trustees to the Society ; 
that it can never become private property, nor ever 
be sold or alienated from the Society, except by their 
own previous consent." 

In 1818, Dr. Byland, the then Secretary of the 
Parent Society, wrote to the missionaries, proposing 
such a legal investiture as should place this matter, 
already conceived to be well understood by each party, 
beyond the possibility of future doubt. 

To the surprise of all, the missionaries called in 
question the Society's right of interference in this 
matter. Before this letter reached them, a letter was 
written, signed,, and printed, by the Serampore mission- 



300 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



aries, to which was appended this clause: — "Sept. 4, 
1817. That no persons belonging to the Baptist Mis- 
sionary Society shall have the least right or title to 
the property, or administration of the premises, unless 
lawfully appointed thereto by themselves, as trustees 
for that purpose. All this was duly certified before a 
notary, published in the European Court of Judica- 
ture, entered on the protocol, and attested in all due 
form, so as to give it the validity of law."* 

Another communication adds— 

u The solid rock does not more firmly resist the 
wave than we shall resist every attempt at interfe- 
rence with our funds, our union, and the premises 
originated by us for the mission at Serampore." 

In a private letter of Dr. Carey to his sisters, he 
seems to have viewed prophetically the issue of this 
afflictive controversy. He writes in reference to this 
property in Nov. 1800 : — 

" We now form a public family ; and though we 
have been blessed with outward things far beyond 
what any of us ever expected, yet we have no private 
property ; and it is happy that w 7 e have not, as I believe 
the existence of the mission depends, in a very great 
degree, on our never engaging in private trade, or 
anything which shall divide us from the common 
family of missionaries." 

As months passed on this controversy increased in 
* Dr. Yates's Life. 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



301 



difficulties, and other matters and principles became 
mixed up with it. Although in the first instance it 
was between the Serampore missionaries and the 
Society, it soon became evident that the interests of 
the younger missionaries would eventually be seriously 
affected thereby. This was the case ; and their rela- 
tion to Serampore was soon entirely dissolved on 
account of private matters in dispute among them, 
but chiefly because of the course which their seniors 
had adopted with regard to the above property. 

This course, and all that it involved, being an in- 
fringement, as they conceived, of the grand original 
and fundamental principle of the Society, led them to 
take this important and ultimate step, and also to the 
formation of their new missionary union before men- 
tioned. The fact also must not be concealed, that so 
early as 1816 they were placed by the senior mis- 
sionaries, both for direction and support, in the hands 
of the Society at home ; it was but natural, therefore, 
that to the principles and interests of the Society 
they should warmly attach themselves. 

To show the reader that the matter in dispute did 
not originate in any unbecoming interference of the 
young men with regard to the property at Serampore, 
Dr. Ryland supplied this sentence — " I must observe 
that two things ought to be kept far more distinct 
than they are ; viz., the dispute about the premises at 
Serampore with the Committee, and that with the 



302 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



young men at Calcutta. True, both originated in 
the same cause .... but the dissatisfaction at home 
would have been just the same if no one of the Cal- 
cutta brethren had ever gone out." 

Such is a passing glance of the history of this con- 
troversy. Of the part which Mr. Carey now took 
the reader has been already informed, and of the 
union which existed between Mr. Lawson, Dr. Yates, 
and himself, in Calcutta. All that it is needful for 
the writer now to record, in reference to Mr. Carey, 
is, that he held the same view of this whole affair 
from the beginning of it to the end of his life ; and, 
as will appear in these subsequent pages, he never 
swerved from the line of conduct which he and his 
brethren prescribed for themselves in the " missionary 
union" which they formed at this time. It is clear, 
from the whole of Mr. Carey's conduct as a mis- 
sionary, as well as from his writings on this subject, 
that he deemed a moral principle of the first import- 
ance to be involved in this disagreement, and one to 
which he felt himself pledged by the most sacred 
of all bonds. And as principles are vital existences, 
unaffected either by time or space (for he has often 
said, in every period of man's history, and in every 
latitude of the globe, they are the same) his opinion 
was unaltered. 

And not only so, it must be apparent to all who 
reflect on this subject, that for him to adopt a course 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



303 



directly in opposition to that which was taken by his 
uncle, must have been deemed by him matter of 
sternest duty, and not of mere choice or opinion. 

Moreover, as this controversy involved on his part 
a " great fight of afflictions" — a large amount of the 
real heart-struggle and life-trial of every day for some 
years as the public champion of the Society in every 
part of the home-country, it must be evident to the 
reader that he would not have adopted this line of con - 
duct from any considerations whatsoever, except as 
conscience dictated and the highest sense of duty to the 
cause of Christ demanded. In his unswerving adhe- 
rence to the principle that no missionary, or mission- 
aries, who are sustained at public expense, ought to 
allow themselves to accumulate private property, was a 
main part of the high honour which attaches to him as 
a missionary. Here we have one of the boundary lines 
which are pointed out by Mr. Hall in his address, 
beyond which he never stepped : — " By the nature of 
your undertaking all the avenues to secular reputation 
and emolument are shut against you. On the bril- 
liant illusions with which the children of this world 
are enchanted, you have closed your eyes, and nothing 
is left but the sublime satisfaction of following in the 
steps of those apostles and prophets, who in the 
midst of the derision of the world, exhausted them- 
selves in a series of efforts to enlighten and to save 
it." This subject will be further illustrated in Mr. 



304 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Carey's after life. Yet here we cannot fail to observe 
that while we, in these days, are removed far from 
these events, by the passing away of time, yet that 
the lessons which they teach us are close at hand. 
For while these facts stand as beacons, they distinctly 
point out the pitfalls and the ground which is 
treacherous to the unwary traveller. And while, 
again, no man must glory in his fellow-man, in any 
time of great prosperity and well-doing, " for, he that 
glorieth let him glory in the Lord;" so neither may 
we exult over the failing and irresolute, for, " let him 
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 

The reader is already aware that, with reference to 
the Society and the Senior missionaries, the "conten- 
tion was so sharp between them that they departed 
asunder one from the other and during ten years two 
distinct societies were in operation both at home and 
abroad. That which was most surprising in reference 
to this disagreement was, that the Junior brethren, 
as the Calcutta missionaries were called, whom we 
have just seen so successfully and unitedly at their 
work, were equal in labour and devotedness with the 
Senior brethren in the most thorough honesty of 
intention and oneness of aim. Amongst this com- 
pany there was no John Mark, "who departed 
from them from Pamphylia and went not with them 
to the work." Then might our Paul at Seram- 
pore have displayed his just resentment. It was, 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



305 



therefore, to these latter a matter of most affecting 
moment to find themselves really placed in opposition 
to their seniors, and that in a matter which involved 
no mere opinion, but a principle from which they 
could not depart without the most serious deriliction 
of their own sense of right. In perse vering, there- 
fore, in this opposition, "they felt that they were 
maintaining a stand for the original principles of the 
mission.'"'* 

The esteemed author of the Life of Dr. Yates 
remarks, respecting the Senior brethren of this mis- 
sionary compact — "Applauded to the echo by the 
tongues of senators, and immortalized by the songs 
of poets, the Serampore union was, after all, but a 
human institution. A specific dispensation was en- 
trusted to it, but the men themselves were not suffered 
to continue by reason of death. Such seems to beth e 
Divine ordaining with many a social organization; 
they live their day and serve their purpose, — then Iosb 
their influence, and their resources are dried up.^f 

This was eventually the case with one branch of 
the work before us; but, as has been mentioned, a 
formal separation did not take place until 1827. A 
few remarks from the pen of Mr. Carey himself, 
while they give no part of the matter of dispute in 
detail, will yet afford the reader an idea of the manner 
in which he viewed this whole affair in after life. 
* Vindication, p. 9 7. f Life of Br. Yates, 
X 



306 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



"In 1817 there commenced a misunderstanding 
between the Serampore missionaries and the Parent 
Society. The latter recommended a new and more 
satisfactory investment of the mission property ; and 
that, in connexion with the missionaries themselves, 
a number of gentlemen in England should be asso- 
ciated in the trust. To this the missionaries objected, 
and issued a declaration from the Danish Court of 
Serampore expository of their own views, and invest- 
ing the property accordingly. To the statements and 
design of this instrument the Society, in their turn, 
could not feel consentient. Explanations followed, 
which, though they mitigated the evil, and somewhat 
arrested its progress, yet left it essentially unsolved. 
The primary matter of dispute remaining unadjusted, 
unity of counsel and feeling was impaired ; and, 
other economical difficulties supervening, in 1827 the 
Serampore missionaries and the Parent Institution 
separated their connexion. 

"If I were writing the history of the Baptist 
Mission, it might be expected that I should trace out 
the merits of this controversy, and exhibit its facts 
and events in detail. But I am writing the life of 
an individual \ and being convinced that neither his, 
Dr. Carey^s, character was affected, nor his usefulness 
compromised, by the views he entertained, and the 
course he adopted, I have not thought it incumbent 
on me to dwell upon circumstances, and renew a 



SERAMPORE CONTROVERSY. 



dispute calculated to awaken no pleasurable feeling, 
or serve any useful purpose. 

" Moreover, as from the very origin of this contro- 
versy to its last discussion, and throughout all the 
interests it involved, I, with the brethren with whom 
I acted, entertained opposite convictions from my ho- 
noured relative, and committed myself to a different 
procedure, I should deem it ungenerous and imper- 
tinent to make this Memoir the vehicle of my own 
ideas, or the instrument of my vindication. Beyond, 
therefore, the above very brief notice, I willingly 
abstain from any analysis of the controversy. Enough 
has been said by each party, it is presumed, fairly to 
expound, if not exhaust, all its legitimate topics. If 
any are of another mind, I leave them to find an 
occasion, and select their own mode for reviving it. 

" Sensitive and decided, too, as Dr. Carey was 
known to be upon the subject above referred to, the 
ensuing section will afford abundant evidence that the 
difference between himself and his Junior brethren 
did not interfere with the current of his affection 
towards them, nor render him insensible to the im- 
portance of their labours."* 

The following extract from Dr. Carey's Will is a 
standing proof of the truth of these remarks, and that, 
notwithstanding the warmth with which he entered 
into this controversy, his views were unaltered. 
* Dr. Carey's Life, p. 542. 
x 2 



308 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



The clause is as follows : — " First, I utterly dis- 
claim all or any right and title to the premises at 
Serampore called the Mission Premises, and every 
part and parcel thereof, and do hereby declare that I 
never had, nor supposed myself to have, any such 
right or title."* 

Dr. Cox, the author of " The History of the 
Baptist Missionary Society," sums up the contro- 
versy with the following paragraph : — 

" The preceding details will show that the true 
cause of the separation between the Society and the 
missionaries at Serampore was the refusal of Dr. 
Marshman, acting on behalf of the latter, to render 
accounts of the distribution of moneys, and his tena- 
city in retaining the stations under their separate 
control in connexion with the irresponsible body con- 
stituting the college council. Surely it is a correct 
principle, from which they in this instance departed, 
that those who originate and continue to contribute 
to the support of missionary stations should not only 
be informed of the objects to which their pecuniary 
supplies are appropriated, but should also possess a 
proportionate share of influence, either directly or 
indirectly, through an acknowledged agency; and 
that agents, that is in this case missionaries pri- 
marily sent out by the funds of the Christian public, 
are not entitled to act independently while deriving 
* Dr. Carey's Life, p. 571. 



EEMARKS. 



309 



support from the Parent Institution. The Com- 
mittee, therefore, had no alternative but to yield to 
the painful necessity of separation."* 

It now only remains for the writer to point out one 
fact connected with the history of this controversy, 
with which those are familiar who are acquainted 
with its details. The fact is this, that at this very 
time (181 7) we have in Calcutta a new missionary 
dynasty arising before us in bold vigour and activity, 
and that not so much out of the glories of the older 
one as out of plans and efforts originated at this time 
by a distinct party, and prosecuted by them in com- 
paratively a new field ; so that had the Serampore 
missionaries left the world or their work at or before 
this juncture of affairs, it might have been said that 
their younger brethren had entered into their labours. 
But this was not the case. Now that "we are 
through the wood" of this controversy, we can breathe 
freely, and take our leisure amidst sunlight and 
warmth, and u the old paths in the course of time 
it will be seen, if the reader will watch the landscape 
before him, that the first beautiful panorama thrown 
upon the canvas, becomes " a dissolving view." 
While the objects at first seen so distinctly gradually 
fade away, during this very process they are seen to 
be mingled strangely and heterogeneously with other 
new and indistinct ones, and we read, " the Calcutta 
* Yol. i. p. 296. 



310 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



missionaries," and behold various works in all their 
brilliancy of colouring and scenery ; could we add to 
these the interior of that printing establishment 
which was at first u one press in a contemptible mat 
hut/' with its many presses, with its profound trans- 
lator, its skilful and persevering superintendent, its 
numerous "workers casting off tens of thousands of 
tracts and copies of the sacred Scriptures, we in Eng- 
land should indeed say, " The Lord hath done great 
things for them, whereof we are glad." If to these 
could be added the wayside chapels, the missionary 
residence at Boitakonak ; the new stations at Howrah 
and Intally; the bungalow at Doorgapore, with its 
mat walls, its room for native inquirers ; its pond, 
too, and alligators; and (were it not too fearful a sight 
for a panorama) the awful suttee, as Mr. Carey saw it 
from his residence ; the poojahs or hook-swinging, and 
the processions of Juggernath with all their atten- 
dant horrors ; we should add in this case also, What 
hath God wrought ! 

Nobly did these brethren bear their trials, and in 
their greatest troubles cheerfully do they u sing the 
Lord's song in a strange land!" When they separated 
from their brethren at Serampore, one of them 
said to Mr. Carey and Dr. Yates, to the effect, u The 
land is before you, and you may decide where to 
choose your place of rest." The cold bleak wilderness 
was not much more desolate to our first parents than 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



311 



was this advice to the young men. But they had 
their reward in another direction ; for to them 
history looks as the founders of this new dynasty, 
and as the originators of the work which exists at 
this day in India, and is now on a much larger scale, 
and more vigorous than at any other period of its 
history. Instead, therefore, of " The Particular Baptist 
Society for Propagating the Gospel amongst the 
Heathen" of 1792, we have " The Baptist Missionary 
Society" of 1827, and of the present day. 

If praise has not hitherto been equally awarded to 
those to whom it was due in their lifetime, these facts 
alone will be sufficient to hand down their names 
with honour to posterUy. There is no design here of 
attempting to lessen the works of the first missionaries 
in the esteem of any reader, as may be evident from, 
the character of the introductory pages to this book. 
But the simple fact which is here recorded is this : 
while in the works of the Calcutta missionaries we 
have no dissolving view, we may justly conclude (if 
such a use of a Scripture text be admissible), "if that 
which, was done away was glorious, how much more 
that which remaineth is glorious." 

All honour to the Junior brethren, who, when they 
found the Society wounded by the way, poured 
in the oil and the wine, and took care of it. All 
honour to them, may every reader respond ! If the 
Senior brethren led them out of Paradise, with 



312 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



"Providence for their guide/ 3 they were soon led 
back again. 

While high praise is justly due to them, we must 
not forget those worthy men at hoine, who by their 
prayers and their efforts to raise contributions, sus- 
tained these brethren, however (e cautiously at first/' in 
their great work. All honour be to their memory also, 
for, with a few exceptions, they rest from their labours, 
and their works follow them. 

Thus originated the work of the Society in Calcutta 
in the year 1817. So early as the year 1819 it is 
stated in the Report of the Society that fifty thousand 
tracts, in English, Bengalee, Sanscrit, and Hindoo, 
had been put into circulation by means of the press 
conducted by Mr. Pearce; and a Sanscrit grammar 
was about to be issued by Mr. Yates. The schools 
had proceeded favourably, and a small beginning had 
been made in female instruction by the formation of 
two schools for that purpose. These became increas- 
ingly attended, and no fewer than six were established 
by the close of the ensuing year. Impressed, also, 
with the great importance of preaching the Word, they 
increased the number of their places of native worship. 

It is the design of the writer, in thus telling the 
story of one, to tell that of the whole of this noble- 
hearted band of men, who might, had they lived in 
the days just after the Flood, have been artificers, 
musicians, orators, patriarchs. At the dispersion, 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



313 



wliat order would they have brought out of the con- 
fusion of tongues; and at the Reformation, what 
preachers and circulators of the Scriptures and tracts, 
equal to any in any time or history of the Church ! 
And so harmoniously and beautifully did these five 
work — as much so as if the ten feet and the ten 
hands, and the five heads, had been two hands, and 
two feet, and one mammoth-head, that truly u were 
they many members, yet but one body." And not 
only so, they were of one heart and one soul ; no one 
said that aught of the things which he possessed was 
his own. A second missionary family is now before 
us with "all things in common/' which honourable 
distinction they preserved intact to the end of their 
lives. To complete the glance which has been taken 
of these works in Calcutta, the briefest outline is given 
here of these co-workers. 

The first in the field was Mr. Lawson, who handled 
the harp and organ; he was a poet also, and an 
artificer ; a man of select and accomplished mind, and 
generous heart. " His knowledge of conchology, 
mineralogy, and botany was considerable. In the 
last class of botany, which treats of cryptogamous 
plants, he carried his researches to a great extent ; 
perhaps no one in India exceeded him in this depart- 
ment. The great work which he accomplished, and 
for which he is certainly entitled to the gratitude of 
the religious public, was the reduction of the types 



314 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



used iii the Eastern languages, particularly the Ben- 
galee and Chinese." 

The second who arrived on the field of labour was 
Mr. Carey, who, of the five, was the chief preacher to 
the natives in their rich and copious language, and the 
leading promoter of native female schools. 

The third was Dr. Yates, so wonderfully fitted by 
nature for the mastery of languages, and in this 
respect so much like the first missionary with whose 
success in the translation of the Scriptures in India 
we are so well acquainted. In this, his favourite 
pursuit, he was a man of gigantic labour and research, 
and most persevering and constant in application. It 
was surprising what he effected in this way, both in 
the translation of the Scriptures, and other books im- 
mediately connected with the spread of the Gospel and 
the advancement of education in India. Dr. Yates, 
indeed, was a sort of walking library of books on lan- 
guage, all arranged in order in his mind on their proper 
shelves, and brought down from thence for use when- 
ever he needed them. When adding another shelf to 
the case, he had only to say, "I shall master 14,000 
words in such a time," and both grammar and words 
were speedily ready for use. 

What a blessing to such a man the confusion of 
tongues at Babel ! We should never, without it, 
have seen the capabilities of his mind to restore order 
in language, and, out of an apparent jargon of words, 



THE JUNIOK BKETHREN. 



315 



concord and beauty. Mr. Carey once said, on a 
missionary platform, when speaking of this wonderful 
faculty in Dr. Carey and Dr. Yates, ce These men 
learnt languages while other men slept." 

The fourth was Mr. W. H. Pearce, printer and 
type-founder; a man excelling in business tact and 
exactitude. While Mr. Lawson succeeded in reducing 
the types, it must be gratefully recorded of Mr. 
Pearce that to him we are mainly indebted for the 
erection and superintendence of the printing establish- 
ment in Calcutta, to which allusion has been made 
before, and which continues at this day to send forth 
myriads upon myriads of tracts and portions of the 
sacred Scriptures. "To the honour of Mr. Pearce it 
must be said, that, belonging as it does entirely to the 
Society in England, it never cost them one farthing 
from its commencement to the death of its founder. 
Every year it contributed to the objects they were 
engaged to support."* Besides this, Mr. Pearce was 
a beautiful preacher to the natives of the gospel of 
God's grace and mercy. 

A fifth we have in the joyous-hearted, ever- 
buoyant schoolmaster and preacher, Mr. James 
Penney, who, amongst his companions, when they 
were heavy-hearted and cast down after the duties of 
the day were over, was like a sunbeam suddenly 
making its way through the clouds, or the harmless 
* Dr. Yates. 



316 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



play of the summer lightning in their night of toil. 
Mr. Carey loved all his companions as his own soul : 
but his friend Penney, always gay-hearted, simple 
and sincere as a child, entwined himself about his 
heart. All sorts of pleasant raillery and repartee fol- 
lowed this cheery companion wherever he went, so 
that his return to his brethren was the harbinger of 
joy in their social circle. Although he shares not 
equally with the first four the title of one " of the 
Fathers of the Calcutta Mission," as distinguished 
from Serampore, who " laid the foundation of all that 
has since been accomplished by it,"* he yet deserves a 
place with them. With a light heart he said to Mr. 
Carey and Dr. Yates, when they were weighed down 
with their anxieties, " After my work is done in the 
school I will come and help you." 

Thus have we a five-fold cord which was not easily 
broken. While these men " laboured with indefati- 
gable zeal and success,"f they were at the same time 
pre-eminently men of God, and the savour of their 
name is yet fresh and odorous. Their works praise 
them in the gate. While the present generation 
lives, their names will remain as pleasant memories in 
the minds of those who loved them as well as their 
great work in India. They were thorough mission- 
aries, and no more noble-hearted and disinterested 
persons have ever trodden a foreign shore. But while 

* Baptist Manual, 1856, p. 46. 

f Baptist Missionary Report, 1819. 



THE JUNIOR BRETHREN. 



317 



the generation who knew these brethren personally is 
fast fading away, it is hoped the present one will not 
be unmindful of the honoured men who have entered 
into and sustained their labours. A future time must 
make known their names and their praise. They 
shall share, if " faithful unto death/' the same reward 
as the first five, and each the welcome, " Well done, 
good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy 
of thy Lord/' 

The curtain will now soon fall on the history of the 
" Junior brethren/' The last life of the last one 
will soon have exhausted its matters of detail and of 
interest. Upon the volumes which contain the record 
of their successes and their trials, the dust of this 
world will soon re-accumulate, but it shall accumulate 
on their memories never. So long as the Circular 
Road Chapel stands will their names be worn upon 
its walls and engraven on its stones. Now that each 
beloved builder is taken to his heavenly rest, we need 
no monuments of stone or marble, on which the 
world's eye should fall with admiring gaze, to proclaim 
their worth. Their works are their memorial ; these 
will live in their effects on the minds of men during 
the whole length of time, and their connexion with 
the vast world to come, eternity alone can reveal : 
while their motto now is, " Return unto thy rest, O 
my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. 
Lovely were they in their lives/' and by death they 
are now no longer divided. 



CHAP. XIII. 



HEALING OF DIFFERENCES — SERIOUS ILLNESS — 
LETTER OF MR. STATHAM. 

" For the missionary spirit was so much incorporated with all 
he thought, and felt, and did, that to commemorate the mis- 
sionary is to describe the Christian." — Me. E. Caeey of De. 
Caeey. 

As time passed on, the painful differences noticed in 
the preceding chapter happily subsided in the quarter 
where the subject of this memoir would have felt a 
continuance of hostilities to be most distressing. 
It is true that a brother offended is harder to be won 
than a strong city ; yet while these disputes were like 
the bars of a castle, they were found not to be those of 
the castle of Giant Despair. Had Dr. Carey en- 
sconced himself in a niche beyond these, such w r as the 
tenacity of his nature and the power of the presiding 
genius there, that the "Junior brethren" might 
long have attempted to storm it in vain. But as a 
Christian, who had learnt the law of love from his 
Divine Master, he conducted himself towards his 
younger brethren. He did not stand and look at 
them through the wicket, but he took down the bars 



HEALING OF DIFFERENCES. 



319 



with his own hand, walked boldly out to them, and 
wished them good success in the name of the Lord. 
Having opened the gate and walked out to them, that 
which served him for egress was equally well suited 
for ingress to his younger brethren. However painful 
and bitter this controversy was to him, he neither lost 
the spirit of love to his brethren, nor, as the reader 
has already seen, did he adopt any other than their 
own intention regarding missionary property. 

He writes to his sisters, in March, 1820 : — "The 
affairs of the mission are on the whole encouraging, 
though mixed with distressing circumstances. It 
will afford you pleasure to find that our differences 
with our younger brethren are terminated. They 
had formed a distinct church, and begun to erect a 
separate place of worship many months before, and 
we did not mention a wish that they should relinquish 
either. We leave them to follow their plans, and they 
leave us to follow ours, and w r e assist each other as 
much as we can. I trust the cause of our Redeemer 
is making considerable progress in different places. 
We are seldom a month without a baptising, and this 
is the case throughout the country, wherever our con- 
gregations are found. I need your prayers continu- 
ally, being yet in the flesh, and surrounded by every 
species of evil." 

The manner in which Dr. Carey always alludes to 
his nephew, in the family correspondence, is another 



320 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



confirmation of this high order of Christian character. 
The most private part of this the writer has had the 
privilege of reading, and has found expressed in it no 
resentful feelings. The most that he says is to this 
effect, in a sort of short-tempered moment : — " Eustace 
has written a volume of small talk ; but we do not 
answer it, that the fire may go out for want of fuel." 
In his letters, after Mr. Carey's return home, there are 
various messagesof " love to Eustace," which, although 
they are not to be considered wonderful for a Chris- 
tian to express, yet are they a beautiful and striking 
exhibition of that love which a never faileth and which 
thinketh no evil." While the expression of such 
feelings was only that which w T as right towards his 
nephew, yet we know the infirmities of our nature, 
and, alas ! as too often displayed by persons who are 
professedly the subjects of a holier influence. 

Feb. 17th, 1822, he writes to his sisters : — " Eustace 
has had a very long illness. I suppose six weeks or 
more. He is getting better, but very slowly ; and is 
as weak as a child. I have expected him at my house 
every day this week. He is at Chinsurah, about twenty 
miles from us, among our Independent brethren, who 
are excellent men, and half Baptists * I have a 
great esteem for them. 

" I rejoice to say, all our contentions are at an end, 

* Two of these were afterwards baptized at Calcutta by Mr. 
Lawson. 



SERIOUS ILLNESS. 



321 



and I believe we all, namely, Senior and Junior 
Baptists, Independents, Churchmen, and General Bap- 
tists, love one another with a pure heart fervently/' 

The sisters of Dr. Carey fearlessly avowed their 
adhesion to the younger missionaries, because, they 
said, they thought "If the latter had not might, 
they had right on their side." 

The illness of Mr. Carey, to which his uncle alludes 
in the foregoing letter, was of a very serious and 
alarming kind. It was deep and deathly; the longest 
and most trying bodily affliction that he had in India, 
and from which he did not fully recover until he 
finally left in the year 1824. At one period of the 
disease it was thought, by the weeping attendants in 
his room, that life was really extinct. Mr. Carey's 
eldest son remembers being taken to his father's bed- 
side to take a last look at him, for both the pulse 
and respiration were imperceptible ; and to the ordi- 
nary spectator he was as if dead. His physician 
came in at this crisis, at which the disease had ex- 
hausted itself, and almost destroyed him. He asked 
the attendants to throw open the windows, and on 
putting a wineglass to his nostrils he perceived the 
least moisture, and said to the friends present — 
m There is hope yet." 

Prayer was made daily by the church unto God for 
him. Many were the tears which were wept over his 
bed by the natives, to whom he had broken the bread 

Y 



322 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



of life; and by his beloved Yates and Lawson, Penney 
and Pearce. He and his had then also the sympathy 
of his kind-hearted friend, Mr. Statham, who, with 
Dr. Yates, took turns in nursing him. To these 
never- failing attentions, both by day and night, he 
owed instrumentally his life ; and there was no social 
feature in his missionary history which made a more 
grateful and lasting impression on his mind. 

But this affliction did not come alone, heavy and 
appalling as it was. While her husband was con- 
sidered to be at the point of death, Mrs. Carey was 
lying in another apartment very ill, and sharing the 
kind attentions of her missionary sisters. 

Mr. Carey lay for days in deep salivation. The 
doctor often addressed him in these words — u Sir, 
you must possess your soul in patience." One day, 
when lying in this state, a strange doctor entered 
his apartment, which gave him great uneasiness. On 
the return of his own medical attendant, who had 
been absent for a short time, Mr. Carey said his 
very footsteps inspired his confidence. He entered 
his apartment, threw a flood of light upon his coun- 
tenance, and said to those about his bed — " There is 
life in his eyes I" 

Never was an exhortation from a doctor to his 
patient less needed than in the case of Mr. Carey. 
His patient endurance of bodily suffering was, both 
now and in after-life, most remarkable. No word of 



LETTER OF MR. STATHAM. 



323 



complaint ever escaped his lips. But his patient sub- 
mission to the will of his heavenly Father had its source 
in his love for the Divine character, and the unshaken 
confidence which he reposed in God. If one may judge 
of another, it would appear, from all that can be learnt 
of him from youth upward in life, that his mind was 
never subjected to an influence which produced the least 
wavering of thought with regard to God's dispensa- 
tions. Hence that cannot be true, it is conceived, 
which is so fearlessly stated by some persons, that it 
is needful to doubt first, before faith can be strong 
and vigorous. Here we have his youthful, simple 
faith confirmed and strong ; and its trial, too, bloom- 
ing with a cheerful and an abiding hope. 

The following is a paper written by Mr. Statham, 
the beloved fellow-labourer of Mr. Carey, whose 
name has just been mentioned here. The help which 
he afforded to the brethren in Calcutta was very con- 
siderable, and most welcome at the time when their 
strength was failing them. 

u The recollections I have of our dear departed 
friend, while residing with him in India, are of a 
most pleasing character. That period will ever be 
looked back upon as one of the happiest of my life. 

" I joined the mission family in Calcutta in the 
year 1820. There were two houses occupied by them. 
One in the Circular Road, by Messrs. Lawson and 
Pearce, where their wives carried on a ladies' boarding- 

y 2 



324 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



school ; and the other in Boitakonah, in which, being 
a large and commodious dwelling, four of us resided, 
Messrs. Carey, Yates, Penney, and Statham, each 
having a study and bed-room, with ]arge dining- 
room, &c, in common. Mr. Adams at that time 
occupied the bungalow at Doorgapore. After the 
business of the day was over, we all met around the 
supper-table in the large hall, when each recounted 
the incidents of the day, and the work of the morrow 
was arranged. Mr. Carey was the life of the circle ; 
so affable and kind, always ready to do a kind office, 
or to console others under trials. The native servants 
were all very fond of him, and would serve him with 
cheerfulness by day or by night. But soon he was 
seized with a most violent bilious fever, which brought 
him very low, so much so, that his life was quite 
despaired of. In the morning, I used to take him in 
my arms and carry him down to the marble hall, and 
lay him on a cot there for the sake of cool air, and in 
the evening carry him up again without much exertion, 
he was so emaciated. One LordVday morning the 
doctors pronounced his case hopeless, and said they 
did not think he could live till evening. I had to 
preach over the water at Howrah that day; so after 
morning service I told the people there would be no 
service in the evening, as we expected dear brother 
Carey would be called to his heavenly rest that day ; 
but that was the crisis — and about three o'clock he 



LETTER OF MR, STATHAM. 



325 



began to revive, and from that period continued to 
improve ; yet it was a long time before lie was able 
to walk. Soon as practicable he accepted the offer 
of a kind friend, one of the Honourable Company's 
pilots, and went a cruize with him to the Sandheads. 
This was productive of much good. The sea-breeze 
braced his nerves, and he returned from his voyage 
much recruited. Never did I hear him murmur or 
repine during all his long afflictions ; for after that 
time he was constantly subject to renewed attacks of 
fever or diarrhoea; but he bore all with lamb-like 
meekness — ever resigned to the will of his Heavenly 
Father, and calm and serene in the prospect of death. 

u Our dear brother was a very acceptable preacher 
to the Europeans in Calcutta; arid several persons 
who had left their native country strangers to God, 
were by his instrumentality brought nigh to God in 
a heathen land. The soldiers, in particular, were all 
devoted to him as a preacher, and to many of them 
he was highly useful. As a preacher to the heathen, 
he excelled all his brethren at that time in Calcutta. 
He had a good knowledge of the idiom of the lan- 
guage, and spoke it very fluently ; and no doubt many 
have welcomed him to glory, who are now the crown 
of his rejoicing. In preaching to the natives, he was 
often interrupted by fierce Brahmins; yet he was 
never out of temper, though they did all they could to 
provoke him to wrath. His patience and meekness 



326 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY, 



bore it all, and constrained his most furious assailants 
to acknowledge that Carey Sahib was a man of 
peace; and on one occasion, when a certain Chris- 
tian had whipped a lad who had got up behind his 
bnggy, the natives cried out — c Carey Sahib would 
not do that V ? 

Another incident is illustrative of this remark. 

Once a Hindoo said to him, as he began to preach, 
" Do you think to teach us anything ? Why, see ! 
you have no beard." 

The preacher stopped him, and said, u Hold, my 
brother, do not goats have beards, and do they preach V* 

The applause on this occasion was most vociferous. 
But while the missionary attempts to proceed with 
his discourse, the reader can imagine how much the 
devout worshipper, and the serious inquirer, will be 
discomposed in thought and feeling. The missionary 
is expected to stop and answer their questions. If 
his opponent be a Brahmin, and he defeats him 
publicly, he receives great applause from the people 
present. 

Mr. Statham continues — "At one time in the cold 
season, our dear brother used to ride out in the cool 
of the morning and evening, on a little pony, of 
which he was very fond. One day, whilst passing 
through the Loll Bazaar, where the sailors' taverns 
are, a company of half-tipsy Jack Tars surrounded 
his pony, and began, as they termed it, to quiz the 



LETTER OF MR. STATHAM. 



327 



parson ; and one of them, clapping his hands on the 
pony's back, jumped up behind him/ and held him 
round the waist. Instead of being wroth, he kept 
gently on with the sailor behind him ; and by his 
kind, pleasant, and persuasive manner, soon induced 
the man to dismount without further annoyance, and 
he proclaimed to all the sailors around that this was 
the best fellow he had ever seen, and called for some 
grog to treat him ; but our dear brother cantered off 
before the order was obeyed. 

"Great was the sorrow of the native Christians 
when they learnt that brother Carey was about to 
leave India, c Our father is going/ said they, c and 
what shall we do?' But this sorrow was not confined 
to the native Christians, but was equally shared by 
Europeans of all denominations in Calcutta, to all of 
whom he had endeared himself by his truly Christian 
deportment ; and many and fervent were the prayers 
offered on his behalf. These prayers were heard and 
answered, in the restoration of health and protection 
from dangers. When my new chapel was opened, 
brother Carey preached a most admirable sermon 
from — 'O Lord, we beseech thee send now pros- 
perity/ There was an American gentleman present 
on the occasion who was much delighted with the 
sermon, and earnestly entreated that it might be 
printed ; but we could not persuade dear Eustace to 
comply with the request. 



328 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



" When Mr. Adams gave up the bungalow at Door- 
gapore, Mr. and Mrs. Carey went to reside there for 
a short time. Brother Carey took much interest in 
that station. One night, whilst lying on his cot, he 
felt the mattress lifted up in a strange sort of way, — 
he put out his hand to ascertain what it was that 
caused the heaving up, when he laid hold of the tail 
of a large jackal. This alarmed him much, and caused 
him to shout out to his bearer, who slept in the 
verandah. The jackal was as much alarmed as he 
was, and fled without his prey. The facts were these : 
— under the cot, a basket, which had arrived from 
Calcutta, with a loaf of bread, had been placed the 
evening before, and the jackal, which had eaten a 
hole in the mat that formed the wall of the bunga- 
low, had scented the bread, but as the basket reached 
from the floor nearly to the cot, the creature could 
not get the loaf out ; in struggling to do this he had 
lifted the mattress and alarmed our brother. It 
caused great mirth when our dear brother described 
this to us all at Boitakonah. Rammohun-Roy was 
particularly fond of Mr. Carey, but never could gain 
any advantage over him as he did over Mr. Adams, 
though long and elaborate were the arguments which 
the Rajah employed to shake our brother's faith in 
the essentials of Christianity. Carey was on the 
rock. Since my return from India I have been asso- 
ciated with brother Carey in numerous tours on 



RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. W. CAREY. 



329 



behalf of the Mission, and always found him just the 
same. The interest of the Mission lay near his heart, 
and all his energies were put forth on its behalf." 

RECOLLECTIONS OF ME. W. F. CAREY. 

While residing at Boitakonah it seemed desirable 
to extend the operations of the Calcutta Mission 
among the natives of the immediate neighbourhood, 
and it was resolved that my father should reside at the 
station at Doorgapore, a village about five miles from 
Calcutta, situated on the high road. We accordingly 
left Calcutta and took up our quarters at this place, 
though I was left behind as a weekly boarder at the 
Mission school for a time. As we left Calcutta we 
passed several native villages till we came to Mr. 
Basin's stone house, which, with its grounds, formed 
one of the bounds of the Mission premises on the 
south-west. The first object that greeted the eye 
was the native chapel, the front of which faced the 
high road, separated from it by a rather deep ditch, 
across which, to connect the chapel to the road, was 
a wooden bridge. The chapel was a plain building, 
erected of bamboo, matting, and thatch, the floor 
of which was of raised mud; the front all thrown 
open. At the back was a door for our admission ; 
and as we entered, a raised mud dais, on which was 
placed a garden seat for our accommodation. It was 
my pleasure and delight to go with my father and 



330 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

Paunchoo, accompanied by my sister. It was a 
beautiful sight to see these two, and a very vivid 
impression my mind retains of these occasions. There 
was Paunchoo, a muscular, tall, jet-black man, giant- 
like ; and being dressed in the flowing robes of the 
East appeared to me a supernatural being. My 
father was thin, pale, and like a spirit, clothed in 
white. They begin the service by singing " Je Jon 
apron pran," or, u O mon bohloo, na a ta re." Our 
infant voices joined them also, and we thought our- 
selves missionaries too. Papa or Paunchoo read, and 
either one or the other prayed. Then came the dis- 
cussion. Paunchoo was fiery and impetuous. The 
Brahmins malicious and full of heat. Then my 
father, calm, quiet, cool, with his voice silver, yet 
earnest and tender; by his skilful use of these natural 
weapons he would disarm opposition, and silence the 
discomfited Brahmin. It was a beautiful sight ; and 
my childish mind was often struck with surprise and 
astonishment at such encounters. My father would 
often thus address the natives. Seeing a coolie car- 
rying a basket, or any other wayfarer with his wallet, 
though strangers, he would thus address them : "Bro- 
ther;" the man would stop. "Whither are you 
going?" "To market, with my goods." "I can 
tell you of a good market, where you can get great 
riches, great wealth." " Tell us, Sahib," and laying 
down his burden, he would squat on the ground, and 



RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. W. CAREY. 331 



into his ears, for the first time, the rich, mellow tones 
of my father's voice poured forth the news of salva- 
tion. Paunchoo would stop a byragee or fakir in 
the same way. " To Juggernaut ?" u Yes." " What 
for ?" " To get rid of my sins." Then did Paunchoo 
unfold to his astonished mind "the no other name 
given under heaven." So, what with one mode and 
another, a good congregation used to be gathered, and 
thus for two or three hours every day these two 
apostles proclaimed the truth as it is in Christ. But 
these scenes are past — their memory is still sweet. 
Oh, that I could but once more enter that humble 
threshold, and walk on that very ground, and tread 
that raised dais, and Simeon's prayer and my own 
feelings would be somewhat in unison. To labour 
thus has been my heart's wish — my life-long prayer. 
After leaving the chapel, from the high road, over 
a wooden bridge, we entered the compound or grounds. 
The carriage-road or path was bounded on each side 
by a cactus hedge, the branches of which, when 
broken, yielded a milky, resinous juice. On the 
opposite side of the road to our premises was a beau- 
tiful and extensive native garden, abounding with 
the large, cultivated white lotus, which was much in 
request for Doorga and the other gods. As we passed 
along our own drive to the house, on the right were 
several large cotton trees ; when these were in flower 
it was indeed a rich and beautiful sight, and then 



332 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



came the pods of cotton. Our compound was like an 
immense orchard : jack trees, cocoa-nut, mango, pome- 
loos, guavas, tamarinds, plantains, oranges. It may 
be asked what we did with the fruit ? Except the 
small fruit trees in our little garden, all used to be 
sold, and most rigidly did my mother carry out the 
agreement, that all the money should go to the 
Mission. Mango was a fruit I much liked. Well 
do I remember longing to have the fruit, hanging 
down in large, red, oblong lumps. Asking for some, 
" No, William ; they are not ours ; they are sold for 
the Mission." Our own garden only contained a 
guava, and a few small-podded gooseberry trees. 
From the carriage-road, to the left, was a path leading 
to a native village, which was a preaching station, and 
where my Hindoo play-fellow resided. This path was 
skirted by a ditch and a jungle of bamboo, and other 
forest trees and bushes, where jackals and other wild 
animals located. This jungle led up to the back of 
our house. Leaving this village path to the left, we 
proceeded on till we came to a wooden bridge, over 
the ditch which connected itself with the large tank 
or pond in front of our house. Crossing the bridge, 
on our left was our plain, simple garden, at the end 
of which were the stables for the buggy or chaise, 
and our horse. A bamboo railing and a gate by the 
house separated the garden from the wide pathway. 
The garden was my pride — my enjoyment — for the 
green peas, and small, round, yellow-seeded goose- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. W. CAREY. 



333 



berry, and the guava, sweet potatoes, cudhoo, &c. 
My little mouth used to water till I got to the fruit 
part. Dear garden — many a remembrance centres in 
thee, with all dear to me on thy walks. Past the garden 
was the bungalow — a thatched house with a large 
verandah in front — three steps led up to it. Here 
w 7 e used to sit of an evening, and talk and listen to 
the serenade of the frogs. Bight and left of the 
verandah were the store-closets for the family. 

Here my mother went every morning with Paun- 
choo the housekeeper (not Paunchoo Christian), to 
give out the day's provisions, and to settle other 
house affairs. Our little feet (Annie's and mine) came 
behind to look after the sugar sweetmeats, or any 
other lawful spoil for little folks. Sometimes the 
provisions fell short, and there would not even be 
money to buy more. I shall never forget those times. 
My mother would cry ; I, child-like, would ask her 
why; she would tell me the reason. My young heart 
could not bear this. Out I would slip, unperceived, 
to Bobarchee the cook, and our pet goose or fowl, 
once even our loved little kid, was soon killed for the 
family meal. Our young treasures thus were sacri- 
ficed ; but our mother's tears were dried. This is only 
mentioned to show it was no light or trifling matter, at 
that time, to be a missionary's wife. Her anxiety 
was solely for his life and ours, and his was for the 
mission service. 

The floor of the bungalow was all of mud, raised 



334 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



about three feet from the ground ; bamboo poles and 
matting for the walls, open lattice-work for the win- 
dows, and bamboo shutters. The rooms were divided 
by matting. This matting was something like the 
basts in which the East India sugar is sent over. The 
roof was high, somewhat conical for ventilation, and 
all of thatch. After the rainy season, this thatch used 
to be taken off on account of the rot, large horrible- 
looking grubs, centipedes, and lizards. It was not 
uncommon to have a centipede fall down. 

From the verandah we entered, by folding-doors 
of bamboo and matting, our large dining-room. This 
served all the purposes of sitting, dining, and living 
room. In this room worship was held. A large 
table in the centre, chairs and stools, were the only 
furniture. Every morning and evening the native 
Christians and inquirers used to come in to worship 
— Giant Paunchoo, and dear old Rose his wife, and 
Anunda, and others. One or other used to pray and 
conduct family worship. Conversation on some pas- 
sage took place — remarks were made* or advice given 
according to circumstances — then a hymn, and then 
prayer by my father or Paunchoo, or some other 
friend. After it was closed, mutual inquiries after 
health followed — plans for mission work were made — 
where to go and what to do, &c. All was carried on 
in Bengalee. I used to drink in all that was said ; 
for, in my own estimation, I was a missionary too, 
and where these two went, my father and Paunchoo, 



RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. W. CAREY. 



335 



would go also. Then the mission family broke up, and 
each went about his day's work. My whole soul was 
centred in Paunchoo. After morning service he would 
say, " Come, Billy, boy, get on my back;" and away he 
would carry me on his broad back to his house, where 
Rose had always something nice, either a tamarind or 
sweetmeat for me. On each side of the dining-room 
were two large bedrooms — that on the right was my 
father's, the other was reserved for friends. A door 
from the bedroom led into the nurse's room, opposite 
to which was the study. 

At the back of the house was the bathing-room, 
at the side of which was a deep dry ditch, bounding 
the house, and separating us from an immense jungle. 
Here hundreds of jackals every night assembled toge- 
ther, keeping up one incessant howl all the night 
long : on a moonlight night you could distinctly see 
them. In the ditch which separated the jungle from 
our bungalow, wild pine-apples and water-melons 
used to grow. Leaving our house, and walking still 
towards the east, on the left was our cook-house or 
room, a straw-and- thatch building. Here Bobarchee, 
the cook, between whom and myself a generous friend- 
ship had sprung up, plied his black art (truly black 
was the whole paraphernalia, and enveloped in con- 
tinual smoke) , and many a time, to oblige his young 
friend, would he turn-to and cook a handful of green 
peas and sweet potatoes fresh-gathered from the garden. 
Good old Bobarchee, I well remember thy love to me! 



336 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Adjoining the cook-room were additional godowns, 
in which were deposited the cocoa-nuts for sale, which 
not being perishable fruit, could lie by for a favour- 
able market. In one of these stores a poor pilgrim to 
Juggernaut died. During the year from three to 
four hundred pilgrims to Juggernaut encamped on 
the mission premises under the trees, and among them 
work was to be done by the family. Paunchoo had 
his hands full among them. On the occasion of one 
of these encampments, my father being engaged at 
Calcutta, mamma, Annie, and I were left at home, 
Paunchoo opposite us. At the least four hundred of 
these poor creatures came to us in a body, and de- 
manded admission into our garden. My mother met 
them, and questioned them as to their intentions. It 
was the festival of Doorga, and they wanted the 
flowers (particularly the marigold) to make long gar- 
lands for their idolatrous dances and festivity. My 
mother firmly refused them. Courageously single- 
handed she stood before them to prevent their en- 
trance through the gate. They vociferated, abused, 
and even threatened; but still she stood firm. We 
children stood by afraid ; calm and undaunted stood 
our mother, and by her firmness and courage she 
overawed the multitude, and they slunk away disap- 
pointed and threatening revenge. One of these poor 
creatures was left behind (ill with dysentery and 
cholera) by his brethren, who went on their journey 



RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. W. CAREY. 337 

the following morning. He had managed to crawl 
into the native chapel, and there he was found. My 
mother instantly went to him, and administered such 
remedies as she knew of, and spoke to him in Ben- 
galee about Jesus. Annie and I were by — and were 
missionaries too in our little way — and mother and 
children were not yet separated. She had him re- 
moved to one of these stores, that she might the more 
readily minister to his wants, and talk to and pray 
with him. On one of these visits he died, while she 
was trying to pour down his throat a cup of warm tea; 
but his teeth and jaws were closed, and not all her 
power could recover him. While kneeling and sup- 
porting his head with one arm, and ministering relief 
with the other, the man died. Now arose a great 
difficulty — no one could be found either to bury or 
remove him. What was to be done ? The natives 
refused because of their losing caste, and there was 
the great probability of the dead body being left un- 
buried for some time at least. At last, Paunchoo the 
Kitmudgar found two men, of the very lowest caste, 
who, for a large bribe, agreed to throw him into the 
Ganges, the sacred stream. So we were obliged to 
submit. They came with a long bamboo, and placing 
the man in a sitting posture, with his knees up, and 
arms fastened to them, slung the body to the pole, 
and carried him off. We were all on the verandah, 
and were distressed at the sight. These were the 

z 



338 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



tender mercies of those days among the Bengalees to 
the dying and dead. On one of these pilgrim visits, 
a man came to my mother with a little baby a few 
days old. Its mother had died on the travel shortly 
before. The father loved the child, and fondled and 
hugged, but could not pacify it, and no one cared for 
it. As soon as my mother saw it, she knew what it 
wanted, and as long as the man stayed she gave him 
goat's milk, and rice and arrow-root for the little one. 

Leaving the cook-room and stores, and walking 
a little further, we come to the end of the mission 
grounds on the east, bounded by the Mussulman 
burying-ground, in close proximity to the jungle of 
jackals. In the middle of this were two large up- 
right beams buried deep in the ground, another beam 
was transversely fastened to the top of these uprights. 
To this beam was suspended the remains of a native, 
hung in chains for the murder of a European. The 
body had been surrounded with iron hoops. The 
crows and vultures and weather had revelled on the 
body, and a great many of the bones had fallen 
through the hoops on to the ground below. We 
children were always frightened at this gallows, and 
never could pass it without a shudder. In this ground 
was a little mud and straw hut for the officiating peer 
or saint, and his attendants, supported by the offer- 
ings of those who needed their services. A Mussul- 
man burial was a strange sight. The body, attended 



RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. W. CAREY. 339 



by its friends, was carried to the grave-side on its 
bedstead. The graves were very shallow. The 
prayers being said, the body was placed in the grave. 
The bedstead, clothes, and other things belonging to 
the deceased were broken up by the relatives and 
friends, and all thrown on the dead body, which, being 
then covered with only a little earth, was left, soon to 
be food for jackals and India's scavengers, — the vul- 
tures, &c, — and consequently the place was literally 
strewed with bones and skulls. We always went 
through this burial-ground to see our friends the 
Baboos. Leaving the burying-ground, and turning 
to the right, another boundary of the premises, was 
another native village, of shoemakers and washermen 
principally. The hovels of these natives were every 
night visited by the jackals, and many a babe was 
carried off while asleep in its mother's arms. Fear- 
fully distressing were the cries in consequence. Pass- 
ing the village we come to the south of the mission 
compound. Here was dear old Paunchoo Christian's 
house, where I was always a welcome guest. By 
Paunchoo's house were two beautiful pomeloo trees, 
always laden with rich fruit or blossom. Between 
Paunchoo's house and ours was a very large tank, for 
supplying ourselves and the villagers with water. At 
one time the natives bathed there ; but this was soon 
stopped when we took possession, though the washer- 
men were allowed to wash their clothes on its banks. 

z2 



340 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Here three or four men every day fixed their smooth 
black slanting boards, and themselves standing knee- 
deep in the water did their washing. Throwing 
wide open their linen on the water surface, they 
gathered it together in long rolls, and one end in 
their hands, and then changing to the other end, beat 
the clothes upon the slanting boards, at each beat 
crying out, "Ash," " Ram," " Krishna," thus remem- 
bering their gods at their daily work. We should do 
well to take a pattern from them, and not forget our 
own Lord so much as we do. In all tropical countries 
vegetables soon arrive at perfection, and animals of 
all kinds multiply very fast. So also with fishes. 
The pond three or four times in the year was fished. 
What was done with the fish ? The pond was mission 
property, and was hired by fishermen, who bought 
the fish for market. The money, as in the case 
of the fruit, went to the mission fund, and if we 
wanted fish we bought it. Many were our neces- 
sities, but not a fish was ever taken for food, though 
we were often in want; so rigidly did my dearly 
loved father and mother carry out the self-denying 
ordinance. On the periodical visits of the fisher- 
men, boy-like, I must fish too. A broken Venetian 
blind was my net ; fastening one end close, the 
other being open like a fan. This end I pushed along 
the water-side, and occasionally a stray fish was my 
prize. Carrying it in-doors, it was laid by, waiting 



EECOLLEGTIONS OF ME. W. CAEEY. 341 



the men at the close of their work — to pay them for it. 
The fishing took place at very early dawn, just before 
the sun rose. They brought bundles of bamboo cane 
slips about four feet long; these they tied firmly toge- 
ther, and slid on to the water as a raft, capable of 
bearing one man, who, balancing himself upon it, 
would throw his net, and then pull and haul in the 
draught. Six men were so engaged ; and when the 
tank was thoroughly depopulated they finished, came 
and gave the hire to us, we paid them what was right, 
a pice or two for that which I had taken, and if 
more was wanted for food, it was paid for. 

Passing by the back of Paunchoo's house, was 
a ditch right down to the chapel bounding the 
mission compound. In this ditch an enormously 
long cobra di capella snake was killed, and sent to 
Mr. Lawson for preservation, who was the naturalist 
of the mission family, as Mr. Penney was the horti- 
culturist, Mr. Yates the linguist, my father the 
working itinerist. We now turn our back on 
Paunchoo's house, and walk by the side of the pond 
back to our own bungalow. From the tank to the 
chapel all the vast ground was covered with fruit 
and cotton-trees as before described. Through this 
little forest a small pathway from the house took you 
direct to the chapel. And here I would mention, 
that in one of these visits to the chapel my dear 
father, wrapt in thought, with the Bengalee New 



342 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Testament under his arm, and his eye fixed on the 
ground, was suddenly arrested in his progress by a 
cobra snake, which stood erect, with hood expanded, 
ready to dart on him and inflict its venomed bite. 
Both, however, stood still. My father was possessed 
of remarkable presence of mind, and this feature of 
his character was manifested on various occasions 
afterwards in England on his missionary journeys. 
He fixed his eye on that of the reptile, and there they 
stood, neither would move. Tired of this work, his 
cry of distress rung through the compound, and the 
syce (or groom) ran to his rescue, and with a bamboo 
cudgel cut the creature in two, but he had to make 
a circuit to the back of the beast. This presence of 
mind saved my father's life on this occasion : other 
instances occurred in after-life. The side of the pond 
nearest the chapel, had a flight of steps down to the 
water ; and here my father once administered the rite 
of baptism. Passing along we come to the house, 
which we again enter, to review some things which 
took place during our residence there. Before our 
verandah grew the rich water-melon, a dangerous fruit 
for Europeans. One evening while we were all talking 
with some friends from Calcutta on a visit, suddenly 
the earth trembled and shook, "and everything 
reeled to and fro like a drunken man." This was my 
first and only experience of an earthquake. It was a 
dreadful evening for us, and more particularly for the 



RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. W. CAREY. 343 



natives, who went about beating their tom-toms, and 
raising dolorous cries by Paunchoo's house. Though 
the earth was moved, and its very foundations shook, 
we were undismayed, for the God of Jacob was the 
refuge of the mission family. An eclipse of the moon 
once took place, at which the natives were similarly 
alarmed. While at Doorgapore, my father received 
intimation that a suttee was to take place on the 
banks of the Ganges near us. At the peril of his life, 
(for he might at that time have been killed by the 
enraged Brahmins, and none been the wiser) before 
sunset off he started. By all his persuasive eloquence 
and his rich Bengalee tongue, he could not make 
these Brahmins relent and stop the sacrifice, and the 
poor widow ascended the pyre, and was burnt. I 
arrived at the time when the pyre was burning away, 
and saw the half-consumed body of one of them, and 
there was my father preaching and talking to the 
natives undismayed, and they shouting u Hurrybol." 
I shall never forget this scene. My father's time 
was now very much taken up with visits to Calcutta, 
to collect from European gentlemen and merchants 
subscriptions for building Circular Boad Chapel ; and 
consequently we were left much alone at the bungalow. 
While he was absent, Paunchoo conducted the stated 
services. But our time did not hang heavily, for the 
rich native Baboos near us sent their elephants for us 
to ride on to visit them, till an accident to my 



344 



MEMOIE OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



mother prevented our rides. We then used to walk 
through the Mussulman burying - ground to the 
houses of these friends. These native gentlemen 
were brothers, very rich, and each had his favourite 
pursuits. One we called "the Beast Baboo/' for he 
spent his time, money, &c, in the purchase and keep 
of wild animals, and had a very extensive menagerie. 
The other delighted in horticultural pursuits, and him 
we called "the Flower Baboo." The " Beast Baboo" 
was very fond of us children, and of my father and 
mother. Always anxious after our welfare, if we 
delayed a visit for a day or two, a messenger was 
despatched to know the cause. A welcome, kind 
and generous, ever awaited our coming, and to us it 
was a great pleasure of course, as children, to go and 
see his beasts. He always accompanied us, and any 
new animal he purchased was first shown to us. I 
remember his buying a fine rhinoceros, which struck 
me with wonder. His table, loaded with all Eastern 
delicacies, was invariably set out for us — and sweet- 
meats and preserves in Benjamin portions were 
given to my sister and myself. Having one day sent 
us a special invitation to tea, my father being at 
home, and Mrs. Penney and Yates on a visit, we all 
Avent, and these native gentlemen received us in truly 
English style. During tea, Circular Road Chapel was 
brought up, and what was being done ; and, to the 
astonishment of all, this princely man gave of his own 



RECOLLECTIONS OF ME. W. CAREY. 845 



accord a handsome donation, begging us to accept 
it for " Mr. Jesus Christ." It was odd and funny to 
my idea, but was done in all sincerity ; not knowing 
any other mode of expressing himself, he thus gave 
utterance to his kind and generous feelings. His 
brother also, the " Flower Baboo," was very kind, 
and whenever we liked we might visit his grounds. 
These were richly cultivated, and beautiful produc- 
tions of the East might here be found in all their 
exuberance of beauty. He was piscatorial also, and 
had several ponds filled with all the varieties of the 
finny tribe. To one pond we always went — it was 
the pond of tame fish — positively tame, for they 
would come and eat out of our tiny hands the paste 
for feeding them, and let us stroke their backs as we 
stooped to feed them. At a call they would rise to 
the surface of the water and come towards the steps 
by shoals, immense huge creatures, but as gentle and 
tame as you could wish. They were fed with paste 
and dried boiled rice. We used to give the " Beast 
Baboo" the preference, however, because he was 
kinder, and loaded us with sweetmeats. The money 
for Circular Road Chapel being collected, other and 
more important duties arising calling my parents 
back to Calcutta, we had to resign the living at 
Doorgapore, much to my sorrow. Back to Calcutta 
we removed, and took up our residence at Pilot 
Jones's house in Circular Road. Here I could 



346 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



not do as I liked. Soon Circular Road Chapel 
was opened. O how delighted was dear Mr. Penney 
— how he skipped about and danced like a great 
boy, and we too enjoyed the fun with him. 
Mr. Lawson, Mr. Yates, and dear papa, were the 
ministers ; more particularly papa and Mr. Lawson, 
between whom the pastorate was divided. During 
their residence at Mr. Jones's, my father was laid 
aside, and for his recovery he took a sea-voyage in a 
pilot-schooner to the Sandheads. We all accompanied 
him, and it was a very painful and trying voyage, no 
Europeans but ourselves, and all of us in ill health. 
We returned in safety, my father's health was 
restored, and that was enough for us. While at 
Pilot Jones's, one of the Independent missionaries, 
Mr. Keith, died, and left a widow with three little 
children, and one unable to walk. All the missionaries 
were united to each other by more than common ties, 
such as are not known in England. Great was the 
sympathy shown to poor Mrs. Keith. My father and 
mother were at her house, and comforted the 
bereaved one — and as usual, Annie and myself went 
too. In less than a month after Mr. Keith's death, 
poor Mrs. Keith died — and the children, as their 
legacy, were divided among us. My mother took the 
infant, and brought it up as her own, loving it and 
watching it as tenderly as she did us, and we also 
took her as a sister. The time was approaching 



MISSIONARY RESIDENCE. 347 

when a change was to take place in our family circle. 
I never was well, and a change of climate was advised, 
and I was to be banished to England. Mr. and 
Mrs. Townley were also returning, Mr. Sherar and 
several boys, children of our friends, were going also, 
and, as it was a good opportunity, I was doomed. So 
arrangements were made, clothes were got ready, and 
the time at last arrived for our separation. We sailed 
together in a budgerow to the ship lying off Calcutta, 
and here we parted; bitter was our parting: I cannot 
tell our sorrow. Tears from all three of us — their 
arms thrown around me — and at last the moment 
came, and we were torn from each other. I now 
leave these recollections with you. I can only say all 
is true, and it has been my life-long business to 
cherish these Indian memories, which have always 
been my delight and happiness. Yours ever, 

W. P. Carey. 

The bungalow at Doorgapore was quite unfit for 
a residence. It was made chiefly of bamboos, and 
was ill suited to protect either from the burning sun 
or the heavy rains of a tropical climate. Besides this, 
the very rigid plan under which these missionaries 
voluntarily placed themselves was an additional trial 
of their bodily strength. On perusing the record of 
their work at this time, it is impossible not to be 
struck with the amount and continuity of it, as con- 



348 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ducted by their united efforts. Mr. Carey's post at 
Doorgapore, to which he was so much attached, 
perhaps admitted of the least relief. His house here 
was near the roadside, in a great thoroughfare, where 
thousands of natives were in the habit of passing 
on the great festival days. It was also, as the 
reader has learnt, within sight of suttees, hook- 
swinging, and other fearful modes of torture, proving 
how true that text is which declares that the " dark 
places of the earth are full of the habitations of 
cruelty." On such a spot, with the choicest sympathies 
of the heart in exercise daily, how was it possible to 
prevent the harrowing up of the feelings under a sense 
of the most poignant sorrow. This daily calling out 
of his sympathy and courage was too much for his 
physical energies, and he sank into this most deathly 
illness. But God had mercy upon him and his 
brethren, lest they should have sorrow upon sorrow, 
and he lived to tell of the goodness and faithfulness 
of the Lord. But we must continue our narrative. 

And now let us accompany the missionary to one 
of the native chapels, those pools of Bethesda, where 
the angel goes down at a certain season into the 
water, and there sing with him " one of the songs of 
Zion." It is the chapel by the road-side at Doorga- 
pore. The singing of the hymn strikes the attention 
of the passers-by ; for these reformers of British India, 
like the great reformers of Europe in early days, sang 
their hymns in the streets and in the little way-side 



EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL. 



349 



chapels, and wherever besides they could get a hear- 
ing. Here stands the missionary like the prophet of 
the Lord. Yet amongst these hundreds of thousands 
of idolaters he can pour out his song of triumph as 
well as the sweet singer in Israel. 

Our eye is now directed intuitively to that wearied, 
dejected one who has come, apparently, from a con- 
siderable distance. The hymn sung, the missionary 
closes his eyes in prayer : and here, in this little 
Bethel so simple, so unattractive, formed more by 
nature than art, the idolater beholds the sublime 
spectacle of a human being in contact with the 
Divine Majesty of heaven and earth through the 
simple medium of prayer, unaided by any external 
rite. How striking must this sight be to the idolater, 
and how new, also, to him this voice of affectionate 
entreaty — so loving yet so pitiful and earnest. This 
distressed, this broken-hearted one listens to the prayer. 
The power of the Lord is present to heal. The compas- 
sion of Jesus, set forth in the devotion of the mis- 
sionary, is just that which his heart needs. It is that, 
also, which the Spirit of God applies with power to his 
conscience. So instantaneous and so complete is this 
conviction, and the accompanying persuasion that he 
has found that which he needs to heal his wounded 
spirit, so sudden also, that there is no more spirit left 
in him. He swoons quite away, and at the close of 
the prayer is taken up in a state of unconsciousness. 

After the service he told the missionary his 



350 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



simple story. He stated that for some time his mind 
had been oppressed with an intolerable burden; 
that, wearied with bearing it, he had started on a 
journey with the vague hope of finding some relief. 
He knew not what it was that he wanted ; but he 
knew that he was wretched, and could not rest again 
until he should find something to quiet his mind. 
Many a weary step did he take ; for, like Bunyan's 
pilgrim, he carried a burden on his back, and sought 
for that which he had not found — the healing of a 
wounded spirit. Thus he wandered he knew not 
whither, until he reached the metropolis of British 
India, and was invited by the service of song into the 
house of the living God. And now it was that the 
Lord touched his heart. After the devotional service, 
" the glad tidings of great joy" were fervently pre- 
sented by the preacher, and now he obtained that 
which he has so painfully sought. In the identical 
words of the Greek philosopher, when he had succeeded 
in making another sort of discovery, this man ex- 
claimed, "I have found it, I have found it." Did 
not the waiting, watching, longing soul of the 
preacher rejoice in that day and leap for joy? 

This beautiful anecdote is equalled only by another 
of similar import. Mr. Carey was preaching one day 
in one of these native chapels, or in the open street, 
and during his address a woman stepped into the 
circle of his hearers, and made her way as close up to 



INCIDENTS. 



351 



him as she could. Her countenance was filled with 
great concern. She stood by him, heard him to the 
end of his address, and then, without uttering a word, 
took out of the folds of her garment a tract, worn and 
almost illegible. This tract had awakened in her 
soul a longing after the waters of life in richer abun- 
dance. The countenance of the woman, the appear- 
ance of the tract, which bore on its title-page the 
words, "from the Mission press, Calcutta," were 
matters of great interest to him. These, and other 
scenes in India, were never effaced from Mr. Carey's 
mind. 

The reader now learns the effect of these u leaves 
of the tree of life," which are for the healing of the 
nations. Well might the Calcutta missionaries write, 
when addressing the committee at home, " We record 
our labours, not our success." If the supporters of 
missionary societies would more generally consider the 
former instead of the latter, when taking an estimate 
of such work abroad, more justice would be done to 
missionaries in general. 

At an early period of this history an allusion was 
made to Mr. Carey's description, on the missionary 
platform, of scenes in India. One of these was a 
graphic description of a suttee. The pile of wood was 
brought before the audience, the dead body placed 
upon it, the terrified widow seen making her way to 
it ; and by the side of him who went with light steps 



352 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



to kindle the fire, — the eldest son of the widow bearing 
a torch ; a slender figure was seen approaching that 
distressed one, who tries to whisper some word of 
mercy and of salvation to relieve her of her anguish. 
This one comes close to her, with firm steps, yet with 
agonized countenance, and says to her, " My mother, 
oh, why will you die ?" With quivering lips and a 
bitter cry, she answers — " My son, why do you 
trouble me ?" Before the missionary can interpose 
another word, she hurriedly says to him — " See you 
that sun there ?" pointing to the heavens : " Pluck 
it thence sooner than turn me from my purpose and 
my fate." The murderous priests fetch her away, 
she is bound to the dead body, the fire is lighted, 
and the shrieks of the dying are drowned only by the 
horrid yells and music of the murderous, maddened 
idolaters. 

It may appear to us strange that this rite was 
practised in India under the sanction of the British 
Government less than thirty years ago ; but it will 
be seen there no more for ever, 

One instance of the power of Divine truth was fre- 
quently alluded to by Mr. Carey. It was the conver- 
sion of a Byragee, who had taken a vow of silence ; in 
some such manner as the following : — " See, I pray 
you, that devotee, in a temple not far from Calcutta, 
as if by a thunderbolt of the Almighty he had been 
transfixed there. He has taken a vow of silence, anc 



VISITS TO DYING NATIVES. 



353 



for these four years he has not opened his lips to friend 
or foe, to God or man. The hair of his head con- 
fusedly covers his person, and his finger-nails protrude 
over the back of his hand. There he stands, his eye 
is tearless, his tongue is speechless, his heart is mo- 
tionless ; he is as silent as a marble statue. By means 
of a religious tract falling into his hands, his attention 
is arrested. He reads it again and again. The night 
falls, and he folds it away ; but the thoughts which 
that tract has elicited return with returning day. He 
reads and ponders, and then was his tongue loosed, 
'The tongue of the dumb did sing, for in this wilder- 
ness did waters break forth, and streams in the desert / " 
This man was baptized by Dr. Carey. 

The reader has seen the missionary by the sick bed 
of a dying infidel. Let us now go with him to the 
sick beds of native converts, as Mr. Carey related his 
recollections of these on missionary platforms. 

To one he said, on entering his apartment — " My 
brother, how is it with you?" 

The dying man replied : — cc Stay, my brother, and 
I will tell you. See you, I pray, that river just before 
me, and a boat coming across it and making direct 
for the shore ? See you him who sits at its helm, and 
who presses the boat on this side, up close to the land ? 
He who sits there is my Saviour. By the help of my 
Saviour I get me safe over, I get me safe over." 

To another he said : — " My sister, you are very ill. 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Shall I fetch you some bread, and would you like 

some tea ?"* 

She replied, with emphasis : — " No, my brother, 
Christ is my bread, Christ is my tea." 

Of a third, he inquired : — cc My brother, is it well 
with you? Is your Saviour with you now?" 

He lifted his hand, and laid it on his breast, and 
said — "1 have Christ here." Then grasping his 
Bengalee Testament, he said, " I have Christ here ; • 
and then, lifting his almost strengthless hand to 
heaven, he said, u And I have Christ there." 

On another occasion, he asked a poor woman — 
' c Well, how is your mind ? I see your body is weak." 
She replied — u All is well. I have no fear of 
death. Jesus Christ has suffered for me. All my 
trust is in him." 

Thinking she was thirsty, he asked her if she wanted 
water? She said: — "I have living water within 
which my Saviour has given me, the same that was 
given to the woman of Samaria. You know you read 
the chapter to me the other day." After this she fell 
asleep. 

Of Mr. Chamberlain's wonderful labours and itine- 
raries, Mr. Carey used often to tell on the missionary 
platform. He was present once when he addressed 
two hundred soldiers with his usual earnestness and 
fervour. Suddenly he stopped in his discourse, fixed 
* These being luxuries to the natives. 



MR. CHAMBERLAIN. 



355 



his eye on one of the young men, and said to him 
" You, young man, you know that you enlisted for a 
soldier, and broke your mother's heart ! You know 
you did, and that she wrapped up a bible amongst 
your clothes, but that you have not looked into it 
since you came into this country." Then continuing 
his address, he pressed home upon their attention the 
great salvation. The young man was pricked in the 
heart. He accused his comrades of having told the 
preacher his history ; but God made it the means of 
his salvation. 

Of Mr. Chamberlain's old friend Brindabun, many 
a pleasant incident was told. This native first heard 
the gospel at a place between Cutwa and Berhampore. 
When Mr. Chamberlain was preaching he paid great 
attention, sometimes he laughed and sometimes wept. 
In the night he went to him and said : — " I have a 
flower that I wish to give to some one who is worthy 
of it. I have for many years travelled about the 
country to find such a person, but in vain. I have 
been to Juggernath, but there I saw only a piece of 
wood ; that was not worthy of it : but to-day I have 
found one that is, and he shall have it. J esus Christ 
is worthy of my flower." He was a Byragee. 

The following testimony to the effect of missionary 
labour the writer has recently received from Mr. Mor- 
gan, who has been many years united with our mis- 
sion in India : — 

A A 2 



356 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



cc Now that your mind is more immediately directed 
to the early scenes of our dear brother's labours, the 
question naturally presents itself to you — What is the 
result of these labours, on whom do they operate, in 
what manner or in what degree, or is all lost? I 
cannot admit that any are lost. My firm conviction 
is, that moral forces are continually acting and re- 
acting, gathering, increasing, and concentrating their 
influence on some great point. 

u Permit me to illustrate this topic by a reference to 
India. Contemplate the millions of its inhabitants, 
— whose Shastras, Yedas, Purans, and Tontras are 
religiously, morally, philosophically, and physically 
false — absolutely false. A system that is incapable of 
producing either a patriot, philanthropist, or a moral 
man. Remember that for two thousand years or more 
this system of evil has been rolling, accumulating from 
age to age, and from family to family, and rushing 
like a broad flowing river with irresistible force. 

" Let us next look upon the amount of good that has 
been brought to bear upon this tremendous evil. In 
estimating the good, we must exclude the so-called 
Christian government, whose policy has ever been to 
tolerate Hindoo prejudices; the corrupt Christianity 
that was introduced by the early settlers in India, 
and propagated by more corrupt means; also the 
nominal Christianity, imported from Europe, which, 
like the marsh miasm of Bengal, exercises a deadly 



PEESENT STATE OF INDIA. 



357 



influence. How small, then, is the amount of genuine 
Christian influence, when compared with the gigantic 
evil by which it is opposed. 

cc Let us come now to the inquiry — What is the 
effect of missionary labour upon the masses of Bengal? 
What acts have emanated from the people, sponta- 
neously, as the result of missionary exertions ? 

" One of the first effects of missionary work is, the 
favourable impression that the missionaries have pro- 
duced upon the minds of the natives in reference to 
themselves. The number of books which the mis- 
sionaries have published — the large number of young 
men they have educated — their disinterested labours, 
being the worst paid Europeans in India, — have led 
the more intelligent natives to regard missionaries as 
philanthropists. If you will look at the subject from 
a statistical point of view, and ask how many mis- 
sionaries have come out from the commencement — 
how many defections? the answer will be highly 
creditable to the missionary body. This good impres- 
sion affords a firm basis for future success, and the 
very counterpart of the impression produced by the 
early continental settlers, and which remains to this 
day. Three years ago I was in a large town, about 
eighty miles from Calcutta — a town rarely visited by 
any Europeans — late in the evening ; some very re- 
spectable Pundits were introduced to me. I offered 
them some books, which they at once refused. Pre- 



858 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



sently they asked if I had the same object as Pundit 
Carey Sahib, and were the books I had the same as 
he prepared ? I answered in the affirmative. They 
immediately fraternized, and asked for the books, anc 
spoke of Dr. Carey in the highest terms of commen- 
dation. 

" The Hindoos have been subjugated by severa 
foreign races, yet they adhere with singular tenacity 
to their social and domestic institutions. The re-mar- 
riage of widows is abhorrent to the Hindoo mind. It 
is a custom fraught with evil — a centre around which 
crimes, and those of the most revolting character, 
continually revolve. You, my dear friend, in the 
hour of sorrow and trial have many Christian friends 
to comfort you. Look at the Hindoo widow : when 
the husband dies, she is stripped of her ornaments, 
compelled to wear the coarsest clothes, to subsist upon 
the coarsest food, no bed is too hard for her to lie 
upon — the drudge of the family — driven to distant 
pilgrimages, to endure fatigue and privations, and, 
perhaps to the joy of the family, dying unknown, 
unpitied — deserted by her companions — to become the 
prey of the vultures and ravenous beasts, while con- 
sciousness remains, and the warm blood circulates 
through the veins. At last the dormant and callous 
feelings of the Hindoos were roused, and a petition, 
numerously and respectably signed, was presented to 
the Legislative Council, praying for an Act to legalize 



PRESENT STATE OF INDIA. 



359 



the marriage of widows, such marriage not being cog- 
nizable by any Hindoo laws. When I was out in the 
cold weather, I found tracts, written by Pundits for 
and against, industriously circulated, and for once the 
Hindoos are divided against themselves. In a few 
days more I expect to hear that the Act has passed 
the Council: this will be a great and signal triumph. 
The 'Redan' and the c MalakofF of Hindooism will 
then be taken. 

" Since my arrival in India there have been consi- 
derable relaxations and violations of the rules of caste. 
Generally speaking, it has more of a conventional than 
personal value. Men in private violate the rules of 
caste without any scruples, though at the same time, 
in their intercourse with their fellow-men, they will 
have some regard to public opinion. The natives 
now feel that caste is attended with many evils, espe- 
cially in the case of marriages ; parents are obliged to 
marry their daughters to men of the same caste, and 
that often to men utterly worthless, whereas they 
could often make much more advantageous matches 
from other castes. One of our most popular tracts is 
on caste. In my missionary tours all classes come 
and ask for it, and frequently at home. 

"However, in connexion with the relaxation of caste, 
there is one great evil, and that is, the increasing habit 
of drinking spirits. This is a great and terrible evil, 
In Calcutta, some common native shops which supply 



360 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



the native community only, pay to Government as 
much as 4<l. per day as duty. A gentleman told me 
lately, that a captain of a ship came to his office very ill. 
Some brandy was given him, the bottle being left on 
the desk open, After a short time the gentleman 
returned, and found his head writer quite insensible, 
having drank half a bottle of raw brandy. This man 
was a highly respectable Brahmin. The bottle was 
before him, and he could not resist the temptation. 
When I first came to India, when a respectable 
man was found intoxicated, he was held amenable to 
the head of the village, tried, and punished. At pre- 
sent such conduct is winked at as a matter of mutual 
convenience. 

" From this disagreeable subj ect let us turn to an- 
other more pleasant, and one in which you are deeply 
interested — female education. It is quite understood 
among the Hindoo women, that if they learn to read 
and write, the husband will die ; and that writing 
and reading are the accomplishments not of reputable 
women, but of disreputable women. These, you will 
admit, are serious hindrances to female education. 

" The education of native Christian girls in boarding 
schools has no influence whatever upon the heathen 
community ; they might just as well have been edu- 
cated in England. There are, however, a great 
number of respectable and educated young men, who 
are anxious for the education of their wives, and 



LAST LETTEKS. 



361 



many do educate them privately. But then the poor 
young woman has to endure the taunts, the ridicule, 
and every opposition from the more bigoted females 
of the house. At present this is the only feasible 
plan, and which ultimately will lead to a more open 
and general custom of educating females." 

Subjoined are the last letters written by Mr. Carey 
while in India : — 

"Alas! for us, we are feeble indeed. I fear so 
long a neglect of the mission here in this respect will 
be regretted when it is too late. Chamberlain, Harle, 
and now also Mr. Ward, are gone to glory ; my uncle 
Carey is evidently waxing very feeble. Lawson has 
had a very long and threatening illness ; Yates has 
been unable to leave home these four or five weeks, 
until, with much difficulty, he attempted to preach 
on Lord's-day evening last. It is hardly to be sup- 
posed that I could survive another attack, if anything 
like the last, but be that according to His will. 

" Blessed be the Lord, I baptized a Coolin 
Brahmin a few days ago at this station, the second 
fruit of Doorgapore, also a poor old Portuguese man, 
upwards of seventy years of age ; both, I trust, sin- 
cere believers in Jesus. My work was never so 
pleasing as now. Oh, that we had two or three such 
stations, where we might not merely call to repent- 
ance, but witness the penitent daily growing in grace 
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour. 



362 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



" Would that some of our English friends h ad been 
here on Sabbath last, when our two new brothers, the 
Brahmin and poor old Gomesh, were received at the 
Lord's table," 

The next letter, written to his child in England, ib 
given as an evidence that the parent was not lost ii 
the missionary, even amidst all the hard work. It 
simplicity will need no apology. 

" Doorgapore, March, 1824. — Mamma and I ar 
very often speaking about you. We say — 'Wher 
is our beloved boy ? Oh, that he may be a good boy 
— that people may love him and be kind to him. 
Would you not be very pleased to know how we a 
are? I am quite sure you would. Well, I will te' 
you. Don't you remember that I came down to the 
ship with you after you had taken leave of mamma 
and all your dear Calcutta friends. After I left you \ 
went on board Mr. Thompson's pilot vessel. I stoppe( 
there a fortnight, and then went back to Calcutta 
When I got there I found poor Eustace so very il 
that the doctor thought that he could not live. He 
could not take a bit of food for many weeks. Mamma 
thought that once he was quite dead, and papa was 
not at home at the time. How much your pooi 
mamma suffered — her dear William gone on boarc 
the ship to go to England, papa not with her at the 
time, and poor, darling Eustace seemed to be dying — 
then she kissed his dear little face, and her tears fel 



DEATH OF A LITTLE GIRL. 



363 



down upon his cheeks all so cold, and thin, and white. 
But God was so good that he heard mamma's prayer, 
and baby did not die. Will you not, my dear Wil- 
liam, kneel down and thank God for his goodness to 
us in not allowing poor Eustace to die. Then, after- 
wards, your mamma was so ill I did not think she 
would live, but the Lord was very merciful to spare 
her, and she became well. When you know what 
sorrow we have had, will you not pray for us every 
day ? Try, my dear boy, and pray from your heart. 
God will help you to pray if you ask him for his Holy 
Spirit. Remember the words of Jesus — 'Suffer 
little children to come to me and forbid them not/ 

" Some time ago I went to see a poor little girl 
who was very ill, and sent for me to speak to her about 
Christ. She wished me to sing hymns, and speak 
to her about heaven, and to pray for her. I said to 
her, ' My clear, do you love Jesus V She said, ' Oh, 
yes, sir, very much/ Then I said, 'Why, my dear 
child, do you love him?' 'Because he died for 
sinners/ I asked her what I should pray for ; she 
said, ' That I may die and go to Jesus/ She said, 
she wished every one was as happy as she was. Your 
sister, Annie, went with me to see her, and put into 
her hand some pretty, sweet flowers from the Door- 
gapore garden. Your loving friends, Paunchoo Chris- 
tian and Rose, both send their love to you ; Paunchoo 
prays so sweetly for you, and almost cries when he 



864 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



speaks of you. Poor old Gomesli was baptized by 
papa in the large tank at Doorgapore. A great many 
people were present. The little garden that was 
yours we take much care of. Your dear friend, Mr. 
Cox, also sends his love to you. Do you not re- 
member how much he loved you ? 

" Annie is so much delighted that I am writing to 
you, and tells me to send her love to you and plenty 
of kisses, and wishes you would send her some sweet- 
meats. - ''' 

The last bereavement Mr. Carey sustained was 
early in the year 1824. Dr. Carey notices it in a 
letter to his sister : — 

"Feb. 1824. — Dear Eustace and Mary have been 
called to mourn the loss of their daughter Annie, 
a fine and most interesting child. Her talk when 
on her dying bed gave great hope to the afflicted 
parents that she had a saving knowledge of Divine 
things." 

The writer remembers Mr. Carey speaking of this 
little girl with much feeling. She often said in her 
illness, " Papa, how nice everything is which we 
have." This sentence alone, how indicative of a 
renewed heart ! Contentment, nay more, thank- 
fulness, how much does it imply ! Where this is 
as the secret outflow of the grateful soul, it is 
evident that there is an under-current of deep 
humility. 



DISCOURAGEMENTS. 



365 



TO ME. DYER. 

" Doorgapore, May 4th. 
" We have just heard from Mrs. Leslie from 
Madras, from which place they expected to sail for 
Bengal in a few days. They have been a long time 
on their passage, but land, and friends, and Christian 
ordinances, we trust, will be the sweeter to them 
when they arrive. We had almost begun to despair 
of ever seeing another missionary brother in Bengal. 
Nearly six years have elapsed since the last of the 
Society's missionaries, viz., Adams and Sutton, came 
to India. Indeed, considering the extent of country 
over which, to a more or less degree, the Baptist 
Mission has spread in this Presidency, its having 
been so long left without succour is a circumstance 
we cannot reflect upon without poignant regret. 

"Now that a gracious Providence has extricated 
the Society from pecuniary embarrassment, we most 
fervently hope more help will be speedily forthcoming. 
The Lord grant it may be so ! Scriptures, school- 
books, &c, being now prepared, and half the expenses 
by means of auxiliary societies, being almost every- 
where obtainable, nothing seems wanting now but 
the Lord's servants and his blessed Spirit with them. 
On the other hand, we are failing for strength. 
Yates is weakly, Pearce no better. 

C£ I am broken in body and mind in a most 
distressing degree. I never had much flesh, but now 



366 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



my bones literally prick through my skin, and my 
poor mind is as much shattered as my body. My 
domestic afflictions are yet more in my esteem than 
those I suffer in my person. To weep over my 
sorrows in private, and to sigh to God for help, are 
all I can do. I think it was since my last addressing 
you that I have been called to follow my lovely child, 
Annie Yates Carey, to the grave ; the fourth we have 
committed to the care of our compassionate Jesus, to 
be kept until the day of redemption. Blessed Lord ! 
what a day will that be ! This was our sorest trial. 
The hymns, passages of Scripture, and catechisms she 
knew would be deemed hardly credible, could I 
enumerate them. She knew much of Christ. The 
few last hours were sweet indeed. But we are 
parted, though I trust not for ever. Her poor 
mamma and she were ill on the same bed, the doctor 
not knowing which of the two would go first. 

cc Thus it is, dear sir, we are called to substantiate 
by our own experience the declaration of our 
Redeemer, c through much tribulation we must enter 
into the kingdom of God/ Yet it is a kingdom we 
are to enter, and men will do much and suffer much 
for a kingdom. May we but enter, and all will be 
well enough, and that for ever ! 

" When I first began preaching in England, I too 
must preach about the afflictions of God's people, 
little indeed I knew of them at that time ! 



FAILURE OF HEALTH. 



367 



"The doctor has ordered me forthwith to the 
Eastward, or to the Cape, or to Europe; having little 
hope, he says, of my being able to get through the 
oppression of the hot weather and the succeeding 
rains. But I am quite at a loss to know at 
present what the will of the Lord is. Oh ! that I 
knew it, and had faith to follow it. I hardly know 
what the best method may be of solving my difficulties 
upon the subject, so many present themselves, and of 
so formidable a nature every way. I think of 
requesting the brethren to meet together, and 
entreat direction for me from the Lord, and make up 
my mind to abide by their decision, as the will of 
Providence respecting me. 

" We expect within a few days to baptize a Mussul- 
man, who promises to be a useful man, if he continue 
steadfast to the end. 

" Paunchoo yet continues to give, as before, great 
satisfaction. Indeed, the native church connected 
with our branch of the mission, though but small, is 
promising and consistent ; were they but ten times 
as many. 

"Adams (the late missionary) is proceeding in a 
career of very painful opposition to the Gospel. In 
a reply to a number of questions forwarded to him 
from a Dr. Ware, I think, of America, he has dis- 
covered more bitterness than at any former time. I 
know not to whom this fallen brother can be com- 



868 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY, 



pared, except to Alexander the coppersmith. He is 
so sadly bitter — he is bitterness itself. You wil 
doubtless see the pamphlet. 

" Would you kindly endeavour to make our belovec 

W. F acquainted with the death of his sister 

She spoke of him with much affection a little before 
her death. Dear boy, may a gracious God take him 
by the hand ! Having lost all the rest of our sweet 
babes, we are doubly anxious as to him. 

" The season is hot, almost beyond example in anj 
previous year. No rain for six months and upwards , 
a most intense sun, the ground burnt up, natives anc 
Europeans dying very fast ; few of either class are 
seeking after God, their Maker ! Alas ! what a work 
is this. What an empire Satan possesses in this part 
of it, where no judgment can terrify, no mercy win 
However, ' the arm of the Lord is not shortened 
that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that he 
cannot hear/ There is a sinful propensity in us to 
limit the operations of J ehovah by the scanty con- 
ceptions of our own minds, and the apparent forces 
of the enemy. But c our ways are not his ways, nor 
our thoughts his thoughts/ In conversation with 
brother Lawson a few evenings ago, he observed, that 
probably the Lord would take the conversion of India 
into his own hand, and work in a manner and at a 
period we least expected, as in other parts of the 
world. 



THE SCHOOLS. 



369 



" A very wonderful revival has been just experienced 
at Ceylon. Oh that the skirts of the shower had 
reached Bengal ! Do you in our native land continue 
to pray for us, that our faith fail not ?" 

The question naturally arises — Have we done what 
we could for India, — all that we could for India in 
sending missionaries and funds ; and have we sus- 
tained them by our constant prayer and sympathy ? 
Have we thought of them as those who were doing 
our work, and who were bearing the burden and heat 
of the day ? The manner in which our monthly mis- 
sionary prayer-meetings are responded to in too 
many cases, the interest exhibited at our annual 
assembly for prayer, and at our annual meeting, 
and the coldness and stillness of death in so many 
cases where neither cry nor prayer is offered at all, 
is no intimation that we are. 

" The female department of the Benevolent Chris- 
tian School Society is prosperous. Mrs. Coleman is 
a steady, devoted superintendress, and the Society 
has been highly favoured in being able to avail itself of 
her services. Ten schools are now in operation ; and 
we hope more will be formed as soon as funds can be 
realized, and suitable places and situations found out. 
We trust for some small portion of your interest in 
favour of this important work. It is, indeed, a most 
important and delightful feature in the present state 
of missionary work in Bengal. It is a demonstration 

B B 



370 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



that the labours of these past thirty years have not 
been in vain ; but that over and above the actual eon- 
versions of the natives, much is doing, yea, much has 
already been achieved, in favour of the great object 
for which Mission Societies exist. The way of the 
Lord is preparing, mountains and hills of prejudice are 
levelling*, and valleys of ignorance are filling up with 
speed. We need, dear sir, to reflect upon these things, 
that we may take heart." 

The following notice of a meeting for prayer, held 
at Messrs. Yates and Penney^s residence, will record 
the decision of the missionary brethren in Mr. Carey's 
case: — "May 10, 18*24. — That the brethren deeply 
sympathize in Mr. Carey's circumstances, and taking 
into consideration the conviction of his own mind — 
that which they have themselves observed of the state 
of his health for a long time past, and the opinion of 
Dr. Brown so fully and frequently expressed — do, as 
missionaries of the same society, consider his voyage to 
England, as proposed, both desirable and necessary." 

To this meeting Mr. Carey alludes in a letter to 
Mr. Dyer :— 

"Calcutta, May 29, 1824. — I had just written a 
letter to you, and the very next day was compelled to 
leave our beloved native station and come into Cal- 
cutta without delay for medical advice. The doctor 
salivated me very deeply. It is now three weeks I 
have been under his hand, and am now but just able 



PRAYER MEETING. 



371 



to articulate a little. In the mean time he again 
insisted upon the absolute necessity of removing 
before the approach of the rainy season, as the peril 
was greater than should be ventured. 

" The brethren having met for prayer and consola- 
tion, concurred in recommending my taking a voyage 
to Europe as the best resource they could think of for 
the recovery of my health. Mrs. Carey having now 
for a long time been in as bad a state as myself, they 
strongly advised her accompanying me. 

u This dispensation is very unexpected on my part, 
especially, too, under such circumstances. I say 
under such circumstances, for some things respecting 
our passage have turned out unexpectedly. The 
American ship Factor arrived here some months since, 
and having a pious gentleman for supercargo, he 
made his way to our little chapel at Circular Road, 
made himself acquainted with us, visited our native 
station, felt a love for what we were engaged in, 
brought his captain to see us too, and the doctor of 
the ship, and all of them were kind enough to express 
an interest in what they saw. 

u "When my going to Europe was determined on, 
they all were anxious we should go with them to 
America, and wait our convenience for a passage 
home. They have kindly agreed to take us for about 
one-half what we could have procured a passage for 
on board an English vessel. 

B B 2 



372 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



" We have a very bad season for our voyage, are 
very weak to encounter it, and are sufficiently de- 
pressed at the prospect. The Lord may be better to 
us than our fears. Oh ! that he may mercifully sus- 
tain us. We dare neither forbid nor anticipate : our 
present troubles being sufficient to exercise our faith 
and our patience, and our present mercies more than 
we can be sufficiently thankful for. 

" Our dear friends the Leslies are well. Oh that 
you had sent a dozen instead of one. He appears a 
sweet, lovely fellow, bat his countenance, I fancy, 
indicates he will soon, in constitution, be a second 
Eustace Carey. 

" Were there but a competent number of mission- 
aries to carry on our matters with some vigour, things 
would promise well." 

This last letter from Calcutta was addressed to his 
cousin, Mr. Jesse Hobson, of London : — 

" Calcutta, June 7, 1824. By favour of your 

friend, Captain T , we have received your kind 

communication, enclosing a letter from our beloved 
child, welcome indeed to his dear mamma and 
myself. We are doubly concerned about him since 
the loss of his dear sister Annie, a loss to us not 
soon to be repaired. Of five sweet babes, William 
Fosbrook remains now alone our solace — a solace 
may he prove. 

"I have little more to say upon this interesting 



RETURN HOME. 373 

topic, unless to solicit of you a continuance of those 
kindnesses we have already experienced. 

" I am just rising from another deep salivation, 
after more than a month's confinement and deep 
depression. To return to Europe is my last resort. 
This has been advised by our medical attendants as 
absolutely necessary to secure a prospect of living. 
With the concurrent advice of my brethren the step 
is resolved upon, the passage taken (on board the 
American ship Factor, and in all probability we sail 
this month, June). Anticipations of seeing you all 
again, and renewing my poor climate-worn consti- 
tution, sometimes dart a momentary beam of light, and 
administer a portion of comfort to a mind more than 
ordinarily depressed ; but distance of time and place, 
the discomfiture of a long voyage, the leaving my 
precious babes behind me sleeping in the dust, the 
relinquishment, for a time, of my companions in 
labour, and the little sphere of usefulness I am 
already engaged in, and what else shall I say. All 
these things concur to eat up the pleasures of hope. 

" Best love to our dear aunts and cousins ; make 
the same acceptable to your dear wife." 

December, 1824. — The Missionary Herald records, 
" We are grieved to add that the health, both of 
Mr. and Mrs. Eustace Carey, has been so much 
impaired, that the physicians have recommended a 
return to Europe as the only probable means of their 



374 



MEMOIE OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



restoration. At the very period of this decision, and 
after, at Mr. Carey's request, his brethren had met 
especially to pray for direction on his behalf, an 
American vessel was in the port, the supercargo of 
which, being a pious man, had attended their wor- 
ship at the Circular Koad Chapel, bringing the 
captain and other officers with him. When these 
gentlemen knew that it was determined that Mr. 
Carey should leave India, they proposed his taking 
Philadelphia in his way, and agreed to convey him 
and Mrs. Carey for about half the usual sum. 

a It is probable, therefore, that Mr. Carey has 
arrived by this time in the United States ; and if it 
should please God to grant him strength sufficient 
for the voyage, he may shortly be expected in Eng- 
land." 



CHAP. XIV. 



VOYAGE TO AMERICA — ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. 

" And they all brought us on our way with wives and children. 
And we kneeled down on the seashore and prayed." 

Some of the most painful emotions of which the 
human mind is capable are brought into exercise 
when separating from those whom we love on earth. 
While the daily exercise of the natural affections in 
ordinary intercourse and in the common relationship 
of life is like a spring or fountain of waters, ever new, 
ever varied, and ever pleasing ; yet in what a high 
degree do these affections become refined and elevated 
when brought under the sanctifying influence of the 
spirit of Christ ! Truly may it be affirmed that there 
are no relationships which produce a closer union of 
heart and affection than those which arise from a one- 
ness of spirit in the service of the Redeemer. If, in 
doing the will of his Father, we become his "mother, 
his brother, his sister," how effectually must the 
grace of the one Spirit, through whom all believers 
have one hope, one faith, one baptism, unite heart to 
heart, and hand to hand, whilst it enables them in 



376 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

the light of the new commandment to comprehend 
those words of their Divine Master, "All ye are 
brethren." "We took sweet counsel together, and 
walked to the house of God in company." How sug- 
gestive this of the purest friendship. But what heart 
in this cold and desolate world of ours knows not the 
full meaning attaching to the words Farewell — "they 
accompanied him unto the ship — -sorrowing most of all 
for the words which he spake, that they should see 
his face no more !" Yet is there even here this con- 
solation, that those who part with the greatest diffi- 
culty are those who meet again with the greatest joy. 
"I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, 
and your joy no man taketh from you." May we 
not find thus, at the root of our bitterest parting, the 
germ of the most gladsome meeting, and of the bles- 
sedness which will ensue from a final reunion with 
those whom we love in the mansions of the blessed, — 
in our Father's house " not made with hands, eternal 
in the heavens." Perhaps there is nothing which 
suggests more strongly than holy friendship, the 
reality of a better life, where such shall be perfected 
in everlasting fruition, and the hope realized that, 
that holy affection which yields us 

66 Rills of comfort here below/ 5 
shall become at God's right hand " rivers of pleasure 
for evermore." 

Of this nature was the friendship which existed 



REMARKS AND VOYAGE HOME. 



377 



between the missionaries at Calcutta. " What com- 
fort of love, what fellowship of the Spirit what ten- 
derness and kindness ! How greatly was their trial 
of parting" also enhanced by the difficulties which 
they had together encountered; by their successes, 
and the very facilities which they had originated, and 
w T hieh were now at command for their work. 

Over Mr. Carey all these swept as a confluent 
stream ; and his silence and submission gave ex- 
pression to the words, " The deep waters have gone 
over my soul." Gladly would he have remained, had 
there been in his case the least promise of health, or 
even of life itself. 

It must now be either death or a voyage home, when, 
literally, his bones pierced through his skin, and he be- 
came a sort of transparent, breathing shadow. Added to 
all this, there comes the thought of the graves of his 
children, all of whom, except his eldest son, he had com- 
mitted to the dust. But, as when quitting his native 
shores, his thought was never to return; so when giving 
himself to this work, it was for life ; emulating as he 
did the example of his uncle, who had now for thirty 
years laboured incessantly without once returning to 
his native clime. With an all but broken heart he now 
bids adieu to his loved companions, to the few native 
converts, to his Paunchoo, and others whose hearts 
the Lord had touched by his ministry ; to the soldiers 
at the Fort, to whom he had broken the bread of life ; 



378 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 



and to the graves of his four children, to which he so 
touchingly alludes in the following letters from Phi- 
ladelphia. But he left with the full hope of returning 
again ; for, after all his suffering, his love to India was 
the same. For love is stronger than death ; and so 
strong when exercised on behalf of Christ, that deep 
waters cannot quench it, neither can fire consume it. 
et Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God/ 3 which are employed in directing 
the path of only one of his saints across this wilder- 
ness ! How confounding to our feeble vision the 
infinite variety in those lines of direction, the inter- 
twining of those paths (for each has one, in some 
respects different to that of any other), in (to us) a 
labyrinth without beginning and without end. But 
not more surely did he choose and direct the stars in 
their courses at the beginning, 

" When love divine did sway 
Those bright things first into the path designed," 

than does he now guide the steps of his people ! He 
knows the precise point at which to give their path a 
new direction, " for he keepeth the feet of his saints." 

He who binds the sweet influence of Pleiades and 
who looses the bands of Orion — who propels the 
planets through their vast orbits — those u wandering 
fires that move in mystic dance not without song" — 
it is he who fixes the bounds of his people's habita- 



LAST LETTEKS. 



379 



tion ; and who imprints his own unerring and inde- 
lible providence on the footsteps of his flock. 

"Farewell, then, beloved companions, and all dear 
to my heart in India. Farewell, until health returns, 
and the same hand which now afflicts me shall lead 
me back to this country of my choice, this people of 
my love \" Farewell ! — For to thee it must be, as 
the sequel shows, farewell for ever. 

The following letters from Mr. Carey announced 
I his safe arrival with Mrs. Carey at Philadelphia. 
They allude not only to his work in India, but in a 
most affecting manner to his past trials in connexion 
therewith : — 

ADDRESSED TO ME. HOBSOX. 

"Philadelphia, June 2nd, 1825. — Your kind favour, 
accompanied with one from Phebe, we have duly 
received. We esteem it kind in you thus early 
communicating with us, especially considering how 
exceedingly bad a correspondent I have been in my 
long absence from you. I little thought when the 
Moxons left us we should so speedily follow them. 
The whole affair seems to be mysterious, certainly it 
has not been of my own devising ; and this gives me 
hope it may be for good in the end. I never remem- 
ber to have adopted any important scheme of my own 
that turned out much to my comfort. May a gracious 
Providence guide our steps in future. Though the 
concurrence of providences was truly painful that 



380 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



issued in our leaving Bengal for a season, yet we 
anticipate much pleasure in the hope of meeting with 
our beloved friends again this side eternity. 

" I am gaining ground, though but slowly. Cer- 
tainly for the five years I never felt at all as at 
present. I can walk two or three miles without 
fatigue, whereas, in India, the walking a hundred 
yards would be attended with painful exhaustion. By 
the time we reach England, I am ready to hope I 
shall be nearly strong and in good health. But I 
must not be too sanguine. I must pay a visit to my 
friend and pastor, Mr. Heely. He lives at Havehill, 
near Boston, is much respected, and, I believe, much 
more comfortable than when in England. 

" Sad accounts from India ; all my brethren and 
friends have been ill from prevailing epidemic. 
Twenty persons in one house ill at once. Poor Uncle 
has not escaped. I fear he will hardly be able to resist 
these repeated and severe attacks." 

TO MR. DYER. 

" Philadelphia, Jan. 28. — The enclosed (letter) is 
just come to hand from my dear Lawson. It is full 
of the most painful intelligence as to the health of 
our beloved connexions in Bengal. Containing a 
somewhat detailed account of the prevailing epidemic 
in Calcutta, it occurred to me it might be of interest, 
though painfully so, to you and others of our es- 



THE WORK PROMISING. 



381 



teemed friends in England. I tremble for Pearce 
and Yates. Indeed, unless speedily recruited, what 
can be expected but that our mission must fail for 
want of strength. May He, whose cause it is, inter- 
pose and graciously relieve our anxiety ! 

"The work never was more promising in India 
than at present ; I believe, never so much so ; but the 
institutions and the growing means of usefulness, now 
injured, must languish speedily if missionaries go not 
forth. The friends to the advancement of religion 
and education will give their money; but Christian 
people from home must provide men. Missionaries are 
few to lamentation, and these few are bowing under 
the pressure of the climate, and it may be expected 
will speedily yield. If the Mission, my dear brother, 
is to live, it must be succoured. I fear its critical 
situation may not have been duly realized, otherwise 
it becomes difficult to account for the lapse of six or 
seven years without an addition scarcely to the 
number of missionaries engaged, notwithstanding the 
ravages of disease and death, and the augmented 
facilities for usefulness among all classes of the com- 
munity, and in every province in India. 

"We enjoyed, through the mercy of God, on the 
whole, a safe and pleasant voyage hither. We had 
twelve days' severe weather off the Cape. Mrs. Carey 
had twenty-six days of most trying affliction at the 
commencement of the voyage, but afterwards bore up 



382 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAKEY. 




pretty well. As to myself, I generally revived in the 
colder latitudes, and fell off again as the heat in- 
creased, but was much better on reaching America 
than when we embarked ; and have gained consider- 
ably since landing. Health and spirits are returning 
in a hopeful degree. In these four years past I have 
not felt so free from depression. Our ship is found 
upon examination to be completely rotten, and is now 
being broken up, so that it appears wonderful we 
were preserved. Thus our mercies, great mercies, 
are continually manifested in our favour. May lives 
so often redeemed be devoutly surrendered to the 
Lord ! 

" I am not competent, at present, to more than one 
exercise on the LordVday ; so that my preaching, 
being casual, and not always at the same place of 
worship, it becomes of no importance to any distinct 
church, and consequently I have no means of miti- 
gating my expenses. We had conceived it possible 
some Christian family might receive us as their guests, 
but, this not being the case, we had no alternative. 
Dr. Baldwin in a letter, noticing this, expresses sur- 
prise ; but different places, as well as different ages, 
have their fashions ; and as life advances and expe- 
rience enlarges, surprise lessens. The Baptist interest 
in this city is surprisingly low, and grievously dis- 
tracted. The pleasure of Christian intercourse is, 
therefore, not so great as we had anticipated : still 



ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 



383 



many individual friends have shown us much tender 
sympathy. 

" I fear it will not be safe to leave this before 
April. It will be May, therefore, before we see home 
— did I say home ! We truly have no home on earth ! 
Nor, indeed, am I desirous my condition should be 
materially different from what it is. 

a Mrs. Carey is recovering from her confinement. 
The infant is well." 

" April 6th. — I wrote you some little time after 
our arrival in America. Your engagements, it is 
well known, must be numerous and very urgent, or 
we should probably have been favoured with a line. 
This would have been an additional pleasure, as we 
have learned so little from any other quarter. We 
must now rest satisfied until our arrival in England, 
should Divine mercy favour us so far as to conduct 
us thither. 

" What adds to our depression in no small degree, 
is our utter disappointment at not receiving letters 
from our dear friends in Bengal. This is cause of 
uncommon solicitude to us. May we hear they are 
well continued. The last rains must have been 
perilous beyond example. But c the Lord Hvetk; and 
blessed be my Rock V 

" I hope to hear that some have been sent to their 
help, that the work may advance with comfort, and 
the grain not be suffered to perish in the field for 
want of reapers. 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



u I have been trying hard to get up a little Auxi- 
liary Society to support a female school ; but all in 
vain. I then thought I would try and obtain dona- 
tions ; but the heels of my shoes are worn down with 
much walking, and I have only obtained 140 dollars. 
The state of things is low, very low here ; though there 
are some most precious people. The eminently pious 
and liberal, however, are much fewer than I had 
expected. It strikes me, that if soliciting liberality 
for the work be thus arduous, if strength be granted, 
I had much rather work in India than beg in 
America. I am informed things are better in the 
New England States than in these parts. 

" I long to see my native country. I long to see 
many Christian friends very dear to me, — we long to 
see our dear boy. 

" It would have been very pleasing to have been 
present at the annual meeting of the Society; but 
it may now be out of our power. Our health is 
improved, though not so much as we had anticipated. 
I have been able to preach once most Sabbaths. For 
the first two or three months exclusively for the 
Baptists, but a little of late for the Presbyterians, 
which I thought my duty, though it has not been 
taken in good part by the former I am told. I would 
fain please all who are kind enough to invite me, but 
my strength would not allow ,it. 

u Dear Captain Weeks, who took Messrs. Marsh- 



AMEKICAN LIBERALITY. 



385 



man, Ward, and Grant, to India, is yet alive, and 
happy in the ways of the Lord. Mrs. Carey unites 
affectionate regard with yours most truly, 

"E.Carey." 

With his stay in Philadelphia Mr. Carey was not 
so much gratified; but nothing could exceed the plea- 
sure which he had in his visit to Boston. Here he 
was welcomed by his well-known and much-esteemed 
friend, the Rev. Daniel Sharp, who opened to him 
both his house and his pulpit. Great was the affec- 
tion which some of the good citizens of Boston 
manifested towards him; so much so, that they 
were determined to leave no vestige of an argu- 
ment unused which should induce him to take up his 
final abode there. 

Mr. Carey's health, which had much improved by 
the voyage, was yet more benefited by his stay in 
America. Although distant from his home, he felt 
returning cheerfulness and hope. 

He retained a most favourable impression of the 
descendants of the pilgrim fathers ; and made a 
frequent use of this impression, and of some things 
which he saw in religious circles in America, in 
his missionary speeches, for some time after his 
return home. Nothing struck him so much as the 
liberality of their giving to the cause of Christ, more 
especially in the breaking-up of new ground for 
erecting an altar to Jehovah. On this interesting 

c c 



386 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



feature of American munificence he used freely to 
remark, and often compare with the stinted means 
provided for this purpose at home, and " the beggarly- 
way of collecting driblets to meet this important 
outlay." He used to say — " Some of our metropolitan 
chapels, as also those in large towns, have continued 
the same from year to year for the space of thirty 
and even fifty years. But in Boston, as soon as the 
congregation was large enough to fill the first place 
of worship, and to sustain its expenses, some of the 
members amicably separated, went to some destitute 
part of the city, and there began a new interest/' 
Thus there were formed the first and second Baptist 
churches in Boston, when Mr. Carey was there, 
and even a third was in contemplation. These con- 
gregations were large and wealthy, and constantly 
increasing."* The pastorate of one of these churches 
was offered to him ; and so earnest were his friends 
in pressing upon him their request, that they almost 
extracted a promise from him, that, if he did not 
return to India, he would come again to America. 

Mr. Carey visited New York, and was present 
during the week in which several societies held their 
anniversaries. The New York Sunday School Union, 
the American Tract Society, the United Foreign 

* Mr. Carey often remarked—" By thus extending the know- 
ledge of the gospel, and bringing all its appliances to bear on the 
population of a new locality, the savour of the name of Christ 
was spread abroad on every hand." 

I 



VISIT TO BOSTON. 



S87 



Mission Society, the American Bible Society, and 
Jews' Society ; most of these he attended. Here he 
met Mr. Ellis, from the Sandwich Islands, and Mr. 
Boardman, who was on his way to Burmah. Mr. 
and Mrs. Boardman, Mr. Coleman, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Wade, names which are well known and 
honoured in missionary life, occupied Mr. Carey's 
house on their arrival this summer at Calcutta. The 
time that Mr. Carey stayed here was a season of great 
refreshment to him. He had the pleasure of seeing 
most of the then leading American ministers; and 
his interview with Mr. Boardman was long remem- 
bered, and often referred to in after years. With Dr. 
Sharp also he had the pleasure of forming a most 
agreeable and lasting friendship. 

Unsparing as Mr. Carey was in his praise of 
America, there was no one who more regretted than 
he did the fearful institution of slavery. But he 
regretted also that some Englishmen spoke of 
Americans as if they were all a slave-holding, slave- 
dealing, and slavery-promoting community. He used 
to say that we should remember with gratitude to 
God that there are thousands in America who will 
give their legislature no rest until their utmost 
wishes are accomplished in the abolition of slavery. 
As our poet apostrophizes our own country — 
M England, with all thy faults I love thee still !" 
so Mr. Carey ever spoke of America ; and while he 

c c 2 



388 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



gratefully remembered the kindness there showed 
him, his words on missionary platforms in regard 
to it ever were as an excellent oil which would not 
break the head. His prayer was also for it in its 
calamity. 

From New York Mr. and Mrs. Carey sailed for 
England. The JJissionar?/ Herald for September, 1825, 
announces their arrival : — 

" We have great pleasure in stating that Mr. and 
Mrs. Eustace Carey, with their infant, arrived safely 
at Liverpool from New York, on Wednesday, 
AiiOTst the 3rd. The health of Mr. Carev, though 
far from being restored, has much improved since he 
left India; and it is very gratifying to add that 
during his stay in America he experienced much 
kindness from the Christian friends at Philadelphia, 
New York, Boston, and other places which he visited, 
and received many liberal contributions towards the 
important object of Female education in Beugal." 

His first visit was to his relations at Leicester 
and Northampton. The following paragraphs are from 
the pen of a cousin, addressed to the writer : — 

" For my part I can only think of the disinterested- 
ness, the unselfishness, the unfeigned charity, the 
untiring, never-wearied benevolence which formed 
a beautiful whole, entire character. My mother met 
him at Northampton after his return from India. 
He asked for her room, where he at midday retired 



ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. 



389 



to pour out his soul to God in prayer. This grace 
of humility it was which so rejoiced my dear 
mother. c I bless God/ she said, ' for he has kept 
Eustace humble, through all the attention and almost 
flattery which he has received/ 

" Crowded houses and long parties of old and new 
friends met to welcome him, to whom he was 
courteous and entertaining in the highest degree, 
but yet from whom he, as soon as he could, retired 
for communion with God. This was at Mr. Hobson's, 
of Northampton. My mother was stopping there. 

" One lady at Northampton said to me, mentioning 
a little society they had, ' I will always subscribe to 
that, because dear Mr. Carey began it/ She was a 
devoted admirer of your dear husband. The church 
at College-lane was very prosperous then. Many 
attended at early prayer-meeting." 

Dr. Hoby writes as follows respecting his voyage, 
and his reception at home, and makes the remark to 
which the writer before alluded. It is that respecting 
Mr. HalFs beautiful discourse at Mr. Carey's ordina- 
tion, which might now be read as an eulogy on him 
whose course it was then intended to guide: — "As 
in his labours abroad the missionary received grace to 
display many virtues, so in all his sufferings, which 
were not few, the joys and consolations of the Gospel 
abounded. A living faith sustained him throughout ; 
and when the time arrived for his bidding farewell to 



390 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

India, and lie was to cross the ocean to the United 
States, on his return home, he was enabled, with calm 
acquiescence in the Divine disposings of him and his, 
to possess his soul in patience. 

" A voyage is ordinarily attended with considerable 
discomfort, even under favourable circumstances. Mr. 
and Mrs. Carey soon found that the old and crazy 
vessel in which they had taken their passage was 
overrun with rats. This proved a clear indication 
that it was absolutely destitute of all the alleviations 
required by one in feebleness and affliction. Instead 
of refreshing repose at night, it was found necessary 
to sleep with a stick in each hand in order to strike 
off the vermin, which often awakened them by gnaw- 
ing at their feet. It was surprising that he was at 
all recruited so as to appear in public, and occasion- 
ally to preach while in the States. A residence there 
of a short time, and then the voyage to England, 
wrought a much more considerable improvement; 
and, on reaching his native land, he was enabled 
to commence, though in extreme feebleness, the 
work of a missionary evangelist and advocate. 

"With whatever acceptance Mr. Carey's earliest 
ministrations had met, it was greatly surpassed by 
the intense delight and interest with which he was 
listened to on his return. The silvery tones of his 
feeble voice sounded sweetly on the ear, and thou- 
sands were enraptured with those musical cadences in 



DR. HOBY'S REMINISCENCES. 



391 



which he conveyed the heart-stirring intelligence of 
what he had so recently witnessed. His graphic 
delineations of scenes that had passed before his own 
eyes , and his narratives of events and discussions 
among heathen inquirers and antagonists, were full 
of fire and pathos. That his more recent appeals 
should have lost something of their freshness is far 
less surprising than that they should have retained so 
much of their pristine power, while no public advo- 
cate of missions could more quickly grasp every new 
phase which presented itself in the current course of 
events. Hence to the very last he was everywhere 
heard, with some few exceptions, with as much in- 
terest as the greater number of deputations, whether 
from the missionary field or from the churches in this 
country. 

"He certainly could not, through thirty years of 
home service, and advancing in years towards old 
age, be supposed to have retained the touching 
interest of appearance which was so impressive when 
called to preach in Great Queen-street Chapel, 
shortly after his return; then, while speaking with 
seraphic ardour, he was regarded more like an ethereal 
messenger from Christ than a worn and exhausted 
missionary; but often his pulpit eloquence, down to 
his very last ministrations, was listened to with 
devout attention; and his sermons, characterized by 
lucid order of arrangement and simplicity of illustra- 



392 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



tion, indicated the rich and varied experience of the 
preacher, and his deep concern for the souls of his 
hearers. Few men, so frequently before the public in 
the pulpit or on the platform, so long retained their 
hold on the attention and affections of Christian 
assemblies. 

" The biography of his uncle, Dr. Carey, proves that 
if the press had more frequently engaged his atten- 
tion, he would have been a writer of no mean cele- 
brity : that volume contains displays of discrimination 
and powers of illustration which entitle it to a lasting 
place among the best lives of deceased missionaries. 
When his pen was also employed, with that of his 
associates, in explanation and justification of their 
missionary career, he proved himself no weak advo- 
cate of the measures which had been regarded by 
many with some distrust. 

" On one occasion, while in India, he was employed 
in the arduous and exhausting work of tuition, and 
for some time took part with his brethren in conduct- 
ing an establishment for the education of boys. 
About the same time, also, in concert with the be- 
loved Pearce, a man of like spirit with himself, he 
made a successful application to the wealthy commu- 
nity of Calcutta, and obtained from many munificent 
contributors the entire cost of the elegant chapel they 
had built in that city. He thus evinced a diversity 
of talent, as occurrences required, far beyond what 



LETTERS ON ARRIVAL. 



393 



many who have known him only as the travelling 
representative of the Missionary Society supposed him 
to possess. It would not be doing justice to his 
name to neglect mentioning the minute accuracy and 
strict, truthful integrity with which he felt bound in 
conscience to transact all these concerns. It would 
have disturbed his repose to omit a nicety of record 
even to small fragments, in all matters of expense, 
where the funds of the Mission were concerned. He 

[ is now entered into rest, having rejoined the com- 
panions of his early labours, who, together with him- 
self, presented patterns of Christian excellence and of 
missionary worth, justifying the use of the words — 

• c whose faith follow, considering the end of their 
conversation, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, 
and for ever/ 79 

Respecting Mr. Carey's reception at home, after 
these remarks, nothing needs to be added by the 
writer. On his arrival, he addressed letters to Mr. 
Dyer :— 

" Leicester, August 8, 18:25. — Through the 
tender mercy of our heavenly Father, we have 
reached in safety our native country. "With some 
little fatigue, and through the kindness of our 
friends, we got through our business at the Custom 
House the day after our arrival at Liverpool. 
Yesterday I spent with my dear Leicester friends. 
I have suffered from pain, now I suffer from pleasure. 



394 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



The excitement of seeing my beloved friends after 
the lapse of eleven years is rather more than I know 
how to sustain. I trust my mind will soon become 
tranquil. How great is the Divine mercy to me and 
to mine, that I should see again my country, my 
relations, my dear Christian friends ! c Bless the 
Lord, O my soul ! J 

"The Committee will excuse my not coming to 
London first. It appeared most suitable, and was 
most convenient. Should you meet the Committee 
in the meantime, permit me, through your medium, to 
assure them of my respect and affectionate regards. 

" Your suggestions as to preaching, will be 
attended to as scrupulously as may be. Forgive my 
brevity." 

"Leicester, September 5, 1825. — I cannot but 
think with most intense concern of this boon of 
£1000 per annum to Serampore. I ask myself is it 
possible that the Committee, after all they know and 
have been made to feel of the extreme mismanage- 
ment of Serampore, that they should strengthen 
that establishment, by pouring into its already enor- 
mous treasury the ample provision of £1000 ! For 
what? Not to enlarge the Society's own legitimate 
sphere of operation, but to deepen, and widen,, and 
impart energy to a compact more hostile to our 
Society than any existing religious institution 



INTERVIEWS WITH MR. HALL. 



395 



upon the face of the earth. How great the misery 
and harassment the Committee have experienced 
from pecuniary connexions with that doubtful estab- 
lishment you know more than any other man." 

"Leicester, September 8, 1825. — The very indif- 
ferent state of my health since I left London induces 
me to believe I shall be unable, without considerable 
inconvenience, to fulfil the engagements upon my 
card. The restlessness and fever induced by much 
moving and other engagements, are such in their 
effect as to destroy my rest, and aggravate that 
nervous irritability which is the distressing attendant 
of my complaint. 

" Since I left you, I have been much less comfortable 
than when I landed, so the fear is of retrograding- 
instead of advancing." 

Amongst the pleasures which now greeted Mr. 
Carey on his return from India, there was no one 
which was more grateful to him than his renewed 
intercourse with the Rev. R. Hall. To meet once 
more on earth this kind friend of his youth, to hear 
him preach, to preach for him, and to join him again 
in the afternoon social meal, was a great delight. 
But while thus in each other's society they had fore- 
tastes of a better world, these interviews were now 
often interrupted by Mr. Hall's paroxysms of the 
most poignant suffering. Mr. Carey was often a 
witness of these. He used to relate that some of the 



396 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



most brilliant passages in his sermons, and his most 
wonderful prayers were expressed by Mr. Hall when 
under excruciating suffering. In tracing these last 
efforts of his, as they gradually, in a few years after 
this time, drew to a close, "We pensively turn," as 
John Foster says of him, "to look at the last fading 
colours in the distance where the greater luminary 
has set." 

The writer here presents the closing paragraphs of 
the paper contributed to this Memoir by the Rev. 
E. Hull :— 

" The years of Mr. Carey's foreign service passed 
away. I saw him immediately after his return to 
his native land. He early revisited Leicester, and 
once again stood in the pulpit of Mr. Hall. His 
appearance was indeed partly altered, yet there was 
a captivating interest in his pallid countenance. He 
had lost none of his mental ability. On the first 
Sabbath evening after his return to Leicester (where 
his first wife's relations resided) he preached to a 
crowded congregation. His discourse was on ' De- 
liverance from the present evil world/ There was a 
chasteness of style and beauty of illustration in that 
sermon which I have never known him to exceed. 
The evil character of the world, as its moral aspects 
had presented themselves to his attention, especially 
abroad, were depicted with moving power. His voice 
trembling at the close under the strong emotions 



REV. E. HULL'S REMARKS. 



397 



working in his soul, penetrated every heart, and left 
impressions tender and subduing. 

a He soon began the missionary tours, which in 
every part of the country became for many years so 
welcome. In several of these I had the pleasure of 
joining him, and can bear testimony to his courteous 
and fraternal spirit, his pleasant intercourse and his 
public power. He will live in my kindest recollections. 
I feel joy in hope of meeting him again, with the 
many friends once united with him on earth, but now 
associated before the throne. 

"1 feel ashamed of this imperfect sketch, — it is, 
however, the best I can now give you under many 
interruptions. It may create a momentary interest 
in your mind in leading you back to the early days 
of him whose closing years you so happily witnessed, 
and whose calm departure to glory still lives in vivid 
imaginations in your mind." 

With Mr. G. Pearce and Mr. Thomas, who left 
this year for India, Mr. Carey had many pleasant 
interviews. Respecting them, and the scene of his 
recent labour, he thus writes to Mr. Dyer : — 

"December, 1825. — I would respectfully suggest 
to the Committee, that, in the present state of things, 
the necessity of a missionary brother at Howrah is 
imperious ; indeed I fear it will be found destitute 
before help can arrive, if it be true that brother 
Statham intends coming home. A native chapel and 



398 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



school already exist there, besides a good English 
chapel, in which three services a week are to be 
attended to. An Auxiliary Society also exists, 
which serves our cause. 

" If brother Thomas goes to Hindostan, I would 
submit to the Committee whether it would not be 
well to revive the Digah station. 

" The Society have most excellent premises there, 
of great extent and value, the half of which Mrs. Rowe 
cannot occupy. Within a mile in one direction is 
Dinagepore, and within a few miles on the other 
the populous city of Patna, where is a chapel ; and 
whenever a regiment is in cantonments, there might 
be an Auxiliary Society formed, and good opportunities 
present themselves of usefulness. A great portion 
of missionary funds are thus realized with facility 
to carry on native work, and many souls are generally 
saved by these labours of benevolence among our 
countrymen. I trust both Howrah and Digah will in 
due time each have two brethren, as the labour in each 
will be far beyond the strength of one. Cawnpore 
has long been crying for help. A band of religious 
people there will hail a missionary brother as an 
angel of light, and wxmld, in return for his labours, 
abundantly supply him with resources for native 
work. A brother there would be able in certain 
seasons to make mission-journeys to the most popu- 
lous parts of Hindostan ; and Bibles, Testaments, 



FIRST SPEECH. 



399 



and tracts would be disposed of, whereas now they 
are perishing for want of hands to distribute them. 
I doubt not the Committee will, to the utmost of 
their power, think of providing for all these important 
parts. n 

In May, 1826 y he writes from Nottingham, re- 
questing that, if possible, he may be relieved from 
preaching the annual sermon of the Society in 
London, which he had been invited to preach by 
the Committee. 

The following extracts are from an address which 
Mr. Carey delivered at a public meeting in June, 
1826, at Great Queen-street Chapel. This address, 
although very imperfectly reported, will not fail to 
interest the reader. 

"The Rev. Eustace Carey, from Calcutta, con- 
sidered the recent crisis as a most trying one for the 
Committee. Those, said Mr. C, who have con- 
ducted the business through this eventful crisis, do 
indeed deserve your increasing confidence. Though 
I have been connected with the Society ever since 
I was a boy fifteen years old, my respect for the 
Committee is now greater than ever it was before, on 
account of the labours in which they have engaged to 
bring matters of such magnitude to a termination. I 
sailed from Bengal to America with a captain in 
whom I had unbounded confidence, yet this confi- 
dence was increased after we had passed the Cape of 



400 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Good Hope. He enjoyed the respect and confidence 
of all the passengers : in fair weather we never enter- 
tained the least doubt of his ability ; but when we 
witnessed the anxiety, and care, and judgment he 
displayed in a violent storm, our confidence increased, 
and our respect rose even to admiration. Such are 
my present feelings towards the Committee. I am 
only afraid that the friends of the Mission may regard 
the separation with too deep regret. The separation 
is certainly to be regretted, but there are circum- 
stances which may considerably diminish this regret. 
Though the Committee, consistently with their trust, 
could not concur in the establishment of the college, 
yet they bore no ill will to the literary part of it ; and 
as far as it contemplated strictly religious objects, 
they were ready to assist, and engaged that the 
expenses of those native students who had embraced 
Christianity, and were preparing to become preachers 
of the Gospel, should be defrayed from the funds of 
the Society. And now that the separation has taken 
place, we feel pleasure in believing that the labours of 
the Serampore missionaries will be undiminished j 
their income is considerable, and we wish them suc- 
cess in the name of the Lord. The literary pursuits 
at Serampore, and other literary institutions, will 
have a favourable aspect in missionary exertions. 
We consider them as auxiliary to the cause, and as 
such we regard them with good will. Besides the 



FIRST SPEECH. 



401 



Serampore College, there are several other institutions 
with kindred objects. There is the Calcutta School- 
book Society, for printing and circulating books of 
useful instruction in the native languages; the Cal- 
cutta School Society, for the introduction, extension, 
and improvement of the system of education ; the 
Bengal College, for the literary and scientific educa- 
tion of natives and Europeans ; and the Diocesan 
College. All these we hail as fraught with great 
advantages to the natives of India. Yet with the 
Committee, the more simple and spiritual their plans 
and operations are, the more success may be expected. 
We should not forget that the intelligence of the 
people of India may be resuscitated, and they may 
rest in infidelity. It is not merely the march of 
intellect that we are desirous of seeing, but the pro- 
gress of Christ and his cause in the East and in the 
West. Literature has its pleasures, but Christianity 
has higher pleasures still. We might have taught the 
Hindoos to read, and to reason too, without intro- 
ducing the doctrines of Revelation. But we aim at a 
nobler object. c God forbid that we should glory save 
in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ V and the un- 
searchable riches of Christ are never preached for 
any long time without considerable success. Some 
of the natives have lived fifteen, others twenty or 
twenty-five years after their conversion; their lives have 
been exemplary, and they have died the death of the 

D D 



402 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



righteous. This holy living and happy dying has been 
the result of the labours of this Institution ; and I 
cannot but congratulate its friends in having been 
instrumental in sustaining such a blessed agency. 
Those parts of the report which are painful are more 
than relieved by the statements in other parts. It is 
too frequently said, little, if anything has been 
effected ; but this is a mistake. At a meeting held 
a few months ago at Calcutta, at which my dear and 
venerated uncle, Dr. Carey, presided, he made the 
following remark : — c You, Junior brethren, are often 
lamenting the want of success ; but I have been in 
this country two or three and thirty years, and, when 
I compare the state of India now with what it was 
then, I find abundant reason to bless God and take 
courage/ And if this was his language and feeling 
in India, surely we have no reason to despond at 
home ; with persevering spiritual exertion and humi- 
lity in pursuing our labours, God has said — 'Mercy 
shall be built up for ever/ But it may well excite 
our wonder and deepest humility, that the purposes 
of Christ's death should be identified with human 
agency. The most successful instruments employed 
in this work will feel something like what the apostle 
felt when he called himself less than the least of all 
saints. This experience and temper of mind has been 
eminently preserved by Dr. Carey. About four or 
five years ago, when he was apparently within an 



ANNUAL SERMON. 



403 



hour or two of dissolution, he said to Dr. Marshman, 
— * If you preach a funeral sermon, let it contain no 
laboured eulogium. Let your text be — " Have mercy 
upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness : 
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, 
blot out my transgressions." * This was his language 
after a life of assiduous labour in the service of God. 
Fuller died in a similar spirit, expressing his reliance 
in the mercy of God and the merits of Christ. Let 
us cherish this spirit ; let us be self-subdued and self- 
renouncing ; let us gird up the loins of our minds ; 
let us augment our labours and multiply our mis- 
sionaries, not doubting of the Divine blessing." 

Mr. Carey was prevailed upon to preach the 
annual sermon. A brief notice of it was recorded, as 
follows : — 

u On Wednesday morning the first of our annual 
sermons was delivered by our missionary friend and 
brother, Eustace Carey, from Calcutta. The health 
of this valuable servant of Christ still remains, 
we regret to say, so precarious that considerable 
anxiety was felt, up to the very day, as to his physical 
competency to the service ; but we are happy to state 
that, though Mr. C. was much exhausted by the 
effort, it did not appear to have injured him ; and, as far 
as we can learn, he was distinctly heard throughout the 
vast assembly. The passage of Scripture selected as 
the foundation of his discourse was John iii. 25 : — 
D D 2 



404 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all 
things into his hand/ from which the preacher 
took occasion to insist, first, on the complacency of 
the Father in the Son; second, on the gloiy with 
which the Father has invested him. Under the first 
head, Mr. Carey remarked that the affection men- 
tioned in the text could not be considered as fixing 
itself principally on the divine nature of Christ, 
nor on his human nature, viewed distinctly ; but on 
the complex character he bears as mediator, the design 
of his coming being the great cause of the Divine 
complacency. He traced the proofs of this love in 
the sparing mercy exercised towards offenders against 
the majesty of heaven, in the exhibition of a redeeming 
economy in all the ancient revelations of God to man, 
and in the numerous instances in which pardon and 
grace were actually conferred on men, prior to the 
advent of the Saviour ; while the active and passive 
obedience of the Son of God were such as to call forth 
the infinite complacency of Jehovah. The donation 
spoken of in the text was stated to include all that 
relates to government, salvation, and judgment ; and 
from this view of the subject various inferences 
were drawn bearing upon the great object of the 
meeting." 

At the annual meeting it is reported the Eev. E. 
Carey, from Calcutta, could speak but few words. 
" Much, however/' said Mr. Carey, " is not necessary, 



FRAGMENT OF SPEECH. 



405 



after what has been said by our esteemed brother, 
Mr. Peggs. 

" However we contemplate the idolatry of India, we 
must be sensible that that unhappy country is full of 
the habitations of cruelty. The people there are born 
and grow up in cruelty, till cruelty from its frequency 
ceases to be horrid, and becomes almost the very 
element of their being. The Gospel contains the only 
balm for suffering humanity. The natives are dying 
men without any hope for futurity. c There is a 
spirit in man y which dies not with the body, c and 
the breath of the Almighty giveth him understanding/ 
But ask the dying Hindoo how he expects it will be 
with him hereafter ? He says, who can tell ; is there a 
God ? he says, who can tell ? As fate has written, 
so it will be. The funeral pile is attended with the 
din of idol drums and shouts. 

"There youths, for the first spectacle, perhaps, 
behold a dead and living parent on the same pile, and 
multitudes dancing around, as unconcerned as the 
rudest mob at a rustic festival. Hence Mr. Thomas 
said, in one of his early letters to the Society : — 
4 Send not men of feeling, they will die ; send men of 
feeling, or they will be of no use/ But other sounds 
are sometimes heard, even praise for him who loved, 
and lived, and died for sinners. Sometimes when we 
are about to despair of seeing any fruit of missionary 
labours, we hear from some cottage the voice of joy 



406 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



and thanksgiving to him who redeemed them to God 
by his blood. Only the sounds of mercy and life from 
the cross of Jesus can inspire true joy ; and this cross 
possesses sovereign efficacy at all times and in all 
countries, in India as well as in England. His love 
is as effectual there as it is here ; send missionaries 
then to proclaim it, and rely on his blessing to give 
them success." 



CHAP. XV. 



HIS DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 

" We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow- 
helpers to the truth." — Third Epistle of John, 8. 

So early as September, 1825, Mr. Carey commenced 
his deputational work, and became the earnest advo- 
cate of the Society's claims throughout the home 
country. Although at first, through ill health, he 
found the work oppressive, j^et the constant change 
which these journeys afforded him contributed much 
to his recovery. 

In 1827, Mr. Carey welcomed in England his friend 
and coadjutor, Dr. Yates, from Calcutta. They were 
now associated in another sort of work, in preparing 
for publication their Vindication of the Calcutta Baptist 
Missionaries. 

Mr. Carey gives a somewhat amusing account of 
the manner in which they shut themselves up for 
days together at Leamington, not admitting any one 
into their apartment. 

Like his friend Mr. Carey, Dr. Yates was in ill 
health, and when the final close of the pen-warfare in 



408 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY, 



this controversy came, it was to them both a great 
relief. They now, in concert with the Committee, 
originated and carried out plans for the consolidation 
of the Society under its new regime ; for in this year 
the separation before mentioned took place between 
the Serampore missionaries and the Society. They 
had also the pleasure of meeting several times on 
missionary platforms. At Bristol, this year, there 
were not only Dr. Yates and Mr. Carey, but also 
their friend and brother missionary, Mr. Statham, 
from Calcutta. 

While Dr. Yates returned to Calcutta, to conduct 
with the beloved Pearce the most important affairs of 
the mission abroad, it was remarkable that Mr. Carey 
was providentially detained, quite contrary to his own 
design and expectation, to plead the Society's claims 
at home. The reader may easily conceive how much 
depended on the character and mental habitude of the 
person who should plead from county to county, 
throughout Eng-land and Scotland, the great interests 
of the Society at this critical juncture. No one could 
be more suitable than a kind-hearted, courteous mis- 
sionary; no one more likely to make an impression on 
those who listened to him. He visited the churches 
as one who could tell what his eyes had seen, and who 
poured out with rapid utterance his appeals on behalf 
of those whom he had left on the field of conflict in 
India. But not only was he kind-hearted and cour- 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



409 



teous, he was considerate of the feelings of others, and 
suited to soften and meliorate the differences of con- 
tending parties. While his judgment was never 
warped by a departure from the original constitution 
of the Society which he and his brethren in India had 
so nobly maintained, he yet was invariably concilia- 
tory towards others who differed from him. The 
reader may imagine the difficulty that there was in 
this work at home, now that two societies were in 
operation in the same denomination of Christians — 
presenting, as the advocates of each thought, equal 
claims to the attention and support of the public. 
For these divisions of Reuben there were great 
searchings of heart; and so much were the denomi- 
national interests affected by the means of the foreign 
Mission, that in one town, in one congregation, advo- 
cates would perhaps be found for both Societies — dis- 
tinct meetings holden, distinct deputations to represent 
each, and distinct funds raised. This state of things, 
in a matter so entirely religious, was most of all to 
be regretted. 

While Dr. Carey, as a lover of peace and of all good 
men, wrote again and again, "our differences are 
healed, we help each other as much as we can here 
rancorous feeling ran high, and, unhappily, oppo- 
sition assumed a personal bearing ; so that some 
manifested a hostile position to the advocates of the 
Society. Mr. Carey used to remark upon certain indi- 



410 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



viduals, in after years, in the following manner : 

" When I first came to England, was one of my 

greatest enemies;" or, "when commencing the work 

of the Society at home, was the worst opponent 

I had." The task, to say the least of it, was no easy 
one to which our missionary was now called in Provi- 
dence. It was costly, and enjoined upon him much 
of the life-trial of his earthly sojourn. Even when 
the storm became a calm, the waters yet were easily 
ruffled. The meekness of wisdom and the spirit of 
peace were so pre-eminently needed; and these, in 
some measure, Mr. Carey had by God's grace. He 
whom he served was with him, and gave him, from 
year to year, not only his protection and favour, but 
great acceptance with the churches. 

Thus commenced his deputational work. His in- 
troduction to it was so gradual and imperceptible at 
the first, that he used to say, " I was some years 
engaged in it before I had any intention of continuing 
it as an office." During these first years he longed 
much to return to India ; but medical opinion was 
unfavourable to his encountering the climate again 
for some time. Mrs. Carey was also in ill health, and 
incapable of taking the voyage. 

For nine years after Mr. Carey's return to England 
he had no fixed place of abode. He often remarked 
that, in leaving himself thus at liberty, he had a 
greater satisfaction in awaiting the leadings of Pro- 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK 



411 



violence. His correspondence will show in what 
manner he sought to serve the Society at home ; to 
remember his work abroad, and his companions, now 
so few in number. The beloved Lawson was at rest. 
He died in 1825 with songs and everlasting joy on his 
head. He said, before departing, to Mr. Penney, " Tell 
Carey that I am now passing through the valley of 
the shadow of death, and that I have the presence 
and assistance of my Redeemer. I have strength 
equal to my day." His last words were the well- 
known lines — 

" I'll speak the honours of thy name 
With my last labouring breath, 
Then dying clasp thee in my arms, 
The antidote of death. 55 

Besides this loss to the missionary band, Mr. 
Statham as well as Dr. Yates were in England. 

The following correspondence is selected from Mr. 
Carey's many letters addressed to the secretary. It 
has reference both to his home-work and to the 
progress of the cause of Christ in India. During the 
three or four coming years, there was not a nook or 
corner of the Baptist world in this country which he 
did not visit. 

After discussing many things in relation to the 
Serampore affairs, and more especially the proposal 
of a gift of a thousand pounds per annum to Seram- 
pore, Mr. Carey writes : — 



412 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



"July 13, 1827. — I am more anxious about other 
things in connexion with the mission than the deci- 
sion of any number of its members respecting Dr. 
M/s present measures, or any opinions formed or to 
be formed of Serampore ; and my principal solicitude 
is that the Committee should be compelled thus to 
occupy its attention and energies, instead of concen- 
trating them all in multiplying their own stations 
upon the continent as opportunities present them- 
selves, and in vigorously augmenting the strength of 
those already formed, by which they must secure 
their own comfort and the glory of God. If the 
Society could determinately summon its efforts to this 
purpose, they might, in a few years, double their 
sphere of action, and occupy a continuous line of sta- 
tions at the distance of one or two hundred miles 
removed from each other. These stations, by their 
contiguity, might mutually help each other, and 
prevent any from becoming extinct by sickness or 
death ; and being in every temporal point of view 
separate from one another, and dependent solely upon 
the Society, the whole compact of the Mission at 
home and abroad would be uniform and entire. I 
am convinced in less than ten years from this time the 
Society, upon this plan would produce, by sending only 
one or two missionaries every year, a sort of effect 
which would keep the public mind alive and in a 
wholesome exercise in favour of the Mission — possess 
ten or twelve excellent stations, which might, by a 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



413 



well-regulated correspondence, yield enough informa- 
tion proper for the Parent Institution to report upon. 
This would resuscitate the public mind, and com- 
mand support without the humiliation of returning, 
from year to year, to the memoirs of translations 
and reports from Serampore already in circulation. 
This would place the Society upon elevated ground. 
My desire is to address the Committee at length upon 
these topics ; but, until these calamities, for such I 
call them, are overpast, I find no opportunity." 

"Salisbury, Nov. 9, 1827. — After finishing my visit 
to Trowbridge I returned to Bath yesterday. I 
obtained a meeting with Messrs. Langdon and Mr. 
John Smith. My object was, first, to ascertain how 
far the separation from Bristol was intended to affect 
the relation of the Bath Auxiliary to the Parent 
Institution ; and, secondly, to assure them of my firm 
belief, that, if it were contemplated to alienate the 
auxiliary entirely, and make an appropriation of a 
portion of its resources to any other interest, the 
Committee would feel it their duty to represent 
themselves by the presence of the secretary and other 
gentlemen, who would come and be present upon 
their anniversary, to offer to the assembly a defence 
of the Society's proceedings with Dr. M. They all 
disclaimed most unequivocally any purpose of sepa- 
rating from the Society ; and I think we may rely 
upon their giving us timely notice of the meeting. 
" I cannot say, however, that no fear is to be 



414 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



apprehended from those who are now absent from 
Bath. 

cc We have so far succeeded, I trust, and that no 
scheme will be allowed to take effect without our 
knowledge. 

" But mark well the following particulars. Neither 
of these gentlemen has yet received a report of the 
Mission for this last year ! This is a singular mistake 
of some to whom they were sent at Bristol, or misma- 
nagement, for some purpose. Be this as it may, it 
was promised on my part that it should be remedied 
without delay. Could they not be sent off to Mr. 
Langdon's address by the first coach after your receipt 
of this ? Send a dozen. No wonder we should be in 
danger of losing our friends, if those in whom we con- 
fide can permit themselves to intercept those atten- 
tions which are due from the Society to its consti- 
tuents. Two of Dr. M friends came from 

"Westbury to try me with hard questions." 

The following is a report upon " estimates of mis- 
sionary translations/' written by Mr. E. Carey for 
the Society, in 1827 : — 

" To report definitely upon the subject of translation 
is by no means an easy task. 

" The plan of labour early projected, and for some 
years pursued, was too extended to justify any rational 
accomplishment. My conviction is, that many ver- 
sions were commenced which were never carried 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



415 



forward to any great extent. But it was the habit 
in the Serampore writings to dilate upon all things 
contemplated, and all things commenced upon, as well 
as all things done. Hence a great, I may say glo- 
rious work, became the subject of statement and of 
eulogy in a style altogether prodigious, and such as 
no ultimate results could possibly justify. 

"My Uncle, I have reason to think, was con- 
cerned himself for the last ten years of his life to 
increase the efficiency of his labours by somewhat 
narrowing their circle. Such was my cousin Felix's 
statement to me, and such was evidently the fact ; 
for the New Testament was brought through in 
several languages, while the Old Testament in many 
remained stationary for years. 

" Another reason may be assigned for this, I am 
aware, and which must be allowed to have led to this 
course; and I think it was just in the Serampore 
brethren so to determine. The Bible Society, some 
years ago, resolved to apportion £500 for any new 
completed translation of the Testament. The atten- 
tion, therefore, of Dr. Carey was thenceforward pretty 
much concentrated upon a few versions, as far as the 
New Testament was concerned ; others being attended 
to but very partially, and the Old Testament in many 
dialects almost entirely relinquished. Add to this the 
facts also that for some time previously to his decease 
his capacity for labour was necessarily much dinii- 



416 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



rushed, and that no one since the death of his son 
Felix has taken any part, at Serampore I mean, in 
this important department ; and it will cease to be 
matter of wonder that the Society should be shy of 
that style of exhibition which was at no time wise, 
but which to resume under present circumstances 
would be something more than folly. 

" Let the Committee ascertain, by their missionaries 
upon the spot, what versions really exist in the various 
languages, and in what degree of forwardness others 
were left by my Uncle. And then again, whether any 
means can be devised for putting the former in circu- 
lation ; for it can answer no purpose for ship-loads of 
them to remain as food for worms ; and whether it is 
possible to devise any plan of labour for completing 
those left imperfect. The Committee can do nothing 
in this matter but inquire, wait, and advise. I feel 
for the Committee in their present circumstances ; 
they have the mortification of exhibiting in miniature 
style, and in a manner which will not fail to be deemed 
brief and disparaging, matters which for many years 
held the Christian world in amazement and ecstasy. 

ee But there is no help for this. It is better they 
should press on patiently and build solidly. The 
Baptist Mission has plenty of good work to do in both 
East and West, and good men engaged in doing it ; 
no society better. Let them w^ell succour and sustain 
them by recruiting their strength, filling well those 



DEPUTATIONAL WOEK. 



417 



spheres of labour which the Divine Providence pre- 
sents to their view, and then report literally and in 
detail upon things doing and done, and no lack of sub- 
scribers to support need be apprehended. 

" What has been remarked upon the subject of 
translation is applicable in a great degree to that of 
missionary stations. Some will perhaps be relin- 
quished, and disappointment will be experienced, but 
neither the brethren nor the Committee will be preci- 
pitate, and nothing is more easy than to commence 
new ones as men are raised up to supply them." 

"December 31. — Respecting my cousin William's 
letter. It is a great business to surrender a station 
like Cutwa. But a change, I feel no hesitation in 
saying, might be very beneficial. Indeed, a system of 
change respecting the purely native stations, might 
prove productive of much good. This is one par- 
ticular in missionary economy to which very decided 
attention is and will be required. At present our 
Mission is all detached. There is no plan by which 
the accumulated wisdom of each is available for a 
common good. We may become more united, more 
mutually beneficial. Could William Carey be turned 
to the account of which he is doubtless capable, he 
mi^ht be of double advantage to the Mission. But 
more of this when we have opportunity." 

(£ April 28. — I have no need in any place to utter 
one word against Serampore. I am rather called 

E E 



418 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



upon to restrain others. The fate of idols is to be 
admired, and then dashed to pieces with little mercy. 
I may be supposed to be ultra in my aversions to 
what we felt to be wrong ; but I begin to feel myself 
a moderate man, and am called upon to moderate 
others who have neither seen nor felt one-fifth as 
much. You may safely rely that the matter is 
seldom, I may say never, introduced by me, and when 
introduced, I feel little inclination to entertain it, 
much less to aggravate. I am convinced we have 
much other work to do. So long as the Society has 
determined upon a separate course, I care not for all 
that is past, vexatious as it may have been at 
home or abroad. 

" The missionary feeling is everywhere growing, as 
far as my observation serves; and I sincerely believe 
the Committee may take much encouragement. I do 
fervently hope they will feel induced to make an 
effort for the establishment of an additional station on 
the continent without delay ; and for this purpose 
that they will look out a good and substantial man 
this year. As much movement and courage as 
possible should now be shown, in order to command 
attention at home and usefulness abroad/'' 

"Muswell Hill, October, 1826.— My desire is to 
attend the call from Newbury, for they are a little 
people with good and large hearts. But the labour 
is more there than in most places. Two sermons and 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



419 



much walking and much talking, which to me is 
worse than all." 

" July 13, 1827. — An excellent feeling in regard 
to the Mission seems to prevail at Coventry. On 
Wednesday we came on to Bromsgrove. Thursday 
evening we came on to Birmingham, and were 
heartily welcomed." He reports various meetings 
in neighbouring places, and adds — u I preached at Mr. 
James's place in the evening. The collections were 
good, exceeding by £40 that of the previous year. 
No alarm respecting the secession of Serampore. 
All the concern now is, that the Society should well 
occupy the public mind at home, and that new and 
additional energies may be employed abroad. Upon 
this latter subject, you know how I feel and have felt 
these seven years. I can scarcely express the poig- 
nancy of my disappointment that the annual meeting 
should have passed over, and no determination formed 
for recruiting our missionary strength beyond that 
most prudent, I confess, but most chilling reply, c We 
will do so when the public place funds at our disposal/ 
Was it ever known, my brother, that public bounty 
flowed in by anticipation? Is it not by actually con- 
templating and making the effort that a gracious 
Providence sustains us ? 

u When my Uncle Carey designed to go to India 
and commenced the Mission, he was supported in the 
attempt ; but if he had said, c When funds are raised 

E E 2 



420 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



I will go f he might have been at Leicester at this 
moment. I conceive, were the Committee to resolve 
immediately to look out four additional missionaries, 
two for the East and two for the West, — they, in the 
very act of fulfilling their intention, would he borne 
out by the public, and commended for the attempt ; 
whereas the not doing it, may leave it supposable by 
many who are not well informed, that the Institution 
will not need so much now as it did formerly, by all 
that it has saved by the withdrawment of Serampore. 
I recommend it as important to be making new, and 
even hold efforts, to reinforce and enlarge the Mission 
in both parts of the world. It is not the simple fact 
that the Society has done right, that will avail for the 
future welfare of the Mission, — they must be noble, 
enterprising, and prompt, if they will arrest the 
public mind in a crisis like this in their favour, 
and secure an ample field, the report of which 
shall command the public countenance in future 
years. 

" It is with great sacrifice of feeling I advert with 
importunity to this subject ; but day and night my 
heart is oppressed with the burden of it. When I 
consider how many of us are sick, and how many dead, 
and how much the sphere of promising labour is 
increased, how many choice opportunities we forego, 
how can I rest?" 

« P.S.— This letter will trouble you, I fear." 



DEPUTAT10NAL WORK. 



421 



Mr. Statham accompanied him on this journey. 
He mentions engagements in Northamptonshire. In 
a letter to Mr. Gurney, he writes : — 

"Leamington, July, 1828. — Yates and I sit at our 
work eight hours a-day, or nearly. People here think 
us very strange, misanthropic beings. We go out to 
no one ; and if any one comes into our room (we both 
occupy the same room), they are frightened hy our 
sedate appearance, all beset with papers and pam- 
phlets. For my own part, I never felt so official and 
author-like in my life before. 

" I did not get back from Bromsgrove until 
to-day. Next Friday, at the latest, I must go to 
Liverpool ; the next week come back to Birmingham, 
and then, if it may be, spend two or three days with 
Mrs. Carey here. 

"We drink most copiously of these Leamington 
waters. About my dear Mrs. Carey I hardly know 
what to affirm. I hope she is better. She also 
hopes so. 

" Our book, if book it may be called, may go to 
print whenever you please. We cannot feel as much 
zeal in its circulation as though it were some good 
and holy subject." 

"Exeter, April 22, 1828. — I gather that a meet- 
ing may some time or other be expected of the Bath 
Auxiliary, but when is not so evident. More than 
six months have now elapsed since the proper time 



422 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



for their anniversary. Now, to me it appears neces- 
sary, for the interests of the Society, that the Bath 
Committee should be written to, and brought at once 
to a point. More than six months' subscriptions will 
be lost. This, however, is not all. If I learn cor- 
rectly, a plan is devising to hold, on an appropriate 
season, the meeting, saying nothing about the dif- 
ferences with Serampore and the Society, and then 
dividing the proceeds between the Society and Dr. M. 
This is to be an example for succeeding operations 
throughout the country. The Society's agents, as I 
understand, are to be invited, and all matters are to 
go forward before the public as in perfect harmony. 
Thus, under a cloak of Christian love, we are to be 
instrumental in diverting the confidence and the 
resources of the public to a channel alien to the Parent 
Society, and to subserve plans and policies in the end 
subversive of its existence. 

c : I like not to be busy ; but if, by going again to 
Bath, I could, on the behalf of the Committee, urge 
any questions or make any communication, I would 
gladly do it. 

Cf P.S. — I fully believe, from all I observe in diffe- 
rent parts of the kingdom, that if the Committee 
manage with vigour and with Christian wisdom, not 
with cu Ruing, for that is not needed, they will 
have little to fear. The Committee will commit 
irreparable injury to the public cause if they permit 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



423 



their agencies to slumber until their adversaries seize 
by stratagem the field of action." 

In the autumn of 1828 Mr. Carey paid his first 
visit to Scotland. He arrived there in September. 

As his and Dr. Yates' pamphlet had just come out, 
the feeling in Scotland, in the minds of some leading 
persons, was by no means favourable to the object of 
their visit. In some others it produced a contrary 
effect. 

Mr. Carey writes, in September : — " A good woman 
got hold of our pamphlet last evening, and told a 
friend to-day that she could not sleep until she read 
it through." 

Mr. Carey visited Glasgow, and preached at several 
places without a collection. He writes, in the same 
letter — u If we can obtain collections at Glasgow, 
we will alter our determination to remain longer or 
come again ; but we will not preach any more with- 
out a collection. Let not the Committee be dis- 
appointed if we get but little money." 

He reports further particulars of this journey : — 
u I believe the feeling of friends there of all deno- 
minations is more securely and definitively with the 

Society than ever At this last place (Montrose) 

the best collection was obtained we have ever had all 
this journey. It is a small place, but I brought away 
£33. The feeling, as far as I can gather, in every 
place north of this, is exceedingly good." 



424 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

" I was to proceed to Glasgow, but now information 
is forwarded, saying the sacrament in the church is 
held that day, and I cannot engage there until the 
following Sabbath." 

"Dundee, October 20. — Mark well the following 
particulars. I am going for Edinburgh the latter 
end of this week, after Arbroath, Brechin, and Mont- 
rose have been visited, where two large additional 
chapels are engaged for the next Sabbath — -Mr. 
Wardlaw's and Mr. Kirkwood's." 

"Sabbath, Nov. 22. — I have obtained a church at 
Glasgow, in which Dr. Chalmers once preached. 
Now if you or the Committee can devise any mode of 
conveyance, whether by air, or land, or water, by 
which I can be at Bristol by the time you specify, 
and I am in suitable condition to undertake the 
enterprise, I do not decline. Otherwise I must 
pursue my course. There is no room for anger ; for 
this is the first moment of my being informed of any 
such arrangement, unless I except that some one told 
me, a day or two ago, that I was advertised in the 
Magazine. I am very sorry I cannot be at Bristol, 
for I must, according to my present engagements 
and convictions, believe it utterly impossible ; for I 
was anxious to be there, not merely from my sincere 
love to many there, but from my perfect willingness 
to be where the roughest of our opposers dwell. I do 
not, nor have I done so scarcely anywhere, introduce 



DEPUTATXONAL WORK. 



425 



gratuitously the matter of controversy ; but neither 
will I anywhere be backward in sustaining the just 
interests of an Institution whose only fault has been, 
respecting the now complaining party, an excessive 
charity and an over-strained endurance. This latter 
circumstance supplies the greatest difficulty to the 
advocates of the Society in some parts of Scotland, 
here, Dundee in particular. If I could describe to 
you the singular scene which presented itself in a 
meeting Mr. Morgan had with the Auxiliary Com- 
mittee here, you would be astonished ; and some of 
the very gravest of the Committee would shake with 
laughter." 

This incident Mr. Carey does not relate, but con- 
tinues : — 

" However, let the Committee know that in no 
place, either in England or Scotland, do the merits 
of the controversy appear better understood ; nor in 
any place can the Society calculate upon more en- 
lightened and hearty friends. 

" I am much worn down in body and mind with 
heavy engagements and light collections. Mr. 
Hussell made collections for us yesterday three times. 
I preached for him in the morning, and for Mr. 
Donaldson in the evening, where we had a mass of 
people. We have much cause for thankfulness. Can 
you not so arrange it that a Sabbath may be spent at 
Bath, and a new auxiliary formed there ? 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



u I wish, unless you write peremptorily to the con- 
trary^ to spend Nov. 9th at Newcastle, to see 
what we can effect there. Then, the next Sabbath, 
I could go to the new congregation at Bath, preach 
for them, and assist in forming a new society, or 
rather in reviving the old one.^ 

The following is a very imperfect report of a speech 
delivered at the annual meeting of this year : — 

"The Rev. Eustace Carey came forward, amidst 
the warmest applause, and spoke to the following 
effect : — c In reviewing, my Christian friends, the 
labours of this Society, we have, indeed, much cause 
for thankfulness on account of the past, and of encou- 
ragement for the future. We are thankful for the 
success which has crowned our efforts, but we have 
reason to hope for much more. Difficulties, it is 
true, have arisen, great difficulties still exist ; but we 
should remember, that the cross of our blessed Lord, 
all the sufferings he underwent, were but the way to 
his triumph, the path to his glory. Much money 
has been expended, as well as hardships endured; 
but all this money will bear an abundant interest, 
and if we wait patiently we shall, ere long, reap a 
large harvest. When our friends began their labours 
in India, there was not a single school throughout 
that immense country where Christian principles 
were taught ; there were not, at that time, six female 
children receiving any instruction; but now, there 



SPEECH ON INDIA. 



427 



are hundreds of schools where the doctrines of the 
Gospel are inculcated, and thousands of scholars, of 
both sexes, are instructed, and many of them, we 
have reason to hope, are trained up to eternal life. 
Much has been expended and endured in accom- 
plishing what has been already done ; but the lever is 
now planted in its fulcrum, which in its mighty 
energy will move the world; it is now in action, 
and it only remains for us all to put our hands and 
hearts to the work. There has been much expenditure 
of life in this mission ; it is no uncommon thing to 
hear of the widows of missionaries, and of their 
orphan children returning to this country bereft of 
the guides of their youth ; but a great work requires 
great sacrifices. The harvest truly is great ; there is 
a teeming population, millions on millions of immortal 
souls perishing, and these comparatively without the 
means of salvation. 

" What should we think if there were but two or 
three Christian ministers amidst the crowded popu- 
lation of London? Yet this is the state of desti- 
tution in which India now lies ; so that how much 
soever may have been done, it must require accumu- 
lated labour, and hardship, and suffering, before we 
can realize the prospects we are taught to anticipate. 
Those that are immediately engaged in this work 
have great need of your sympathies, and of your 
cordial co-operation; we cast ourselves, beloved 



428 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

friends, on your Christian consideration, and pray 
that you will remember us, and that more especially 
when you are happily engaged at a throne of grace, 
seeing we are called both to 'labour and to suffer 
reproach.'' " 

In the summer of 1829, Mr. Carey was bereaved of 
the wife of his youth, the companion and sharer of his 
distresses and his joys in India. He thus writes to 
Mrs. Carey's mother : — 

" London, July 23. My dear Mother, — Yesterday, 
at one o'clock, we deposited all that was mortal of 
your beloved child, in a silent abode where it will 
rest securely and sleep peacefully until the voice of 
the archangel and the trump of God shall awake it at 
the last day. Then it shall be decked with glory and 
robed with immortality as with a garment. She is 
placed in an excellent vault, under the chapel at Maze 
Pond. She sleeps in good company. In the apart- 
ment she occupies there sleeps the dust of several 
pious persons, one who was recently living amongst 
us ; and a few yards off, in a family vault, is her 
dearest friend, Mrs. Gurney.*" Thus, in both worlds, 
her society is good. A select number of very choice 
Christian friends accompanied William Fosbrook and 
myself in this last sorrowful tribute of respect to one 
who, though but recently known in London, was yet 
much esteemed by many who are truly among the 
* The wife of Mr. W. B. Gurney. 



DEATH OF MRS. CAREY. 



429 



excellent of the earth. Mary's quiet and benevolent 
deportment lodged her very deeply in the affections 
of all who possessed her acquaintance. 

"Mr. Dyer delivered the funeral address — one of the 
most affectionate and impressive I have ever heard. 
The manner in which he alluded to her character 
and deportment was as soothing as can well be 
imagined." 

Mr. Carey writes to his son respecting this painful 
bereavement : — 

" Nottingham, Sept. 23. — Rely upon it, my dear boy, 
you are seldom long out of my mind. I am earnestly 
desirous of your best interests. That the Father of 
mercies may continually bless you and have you under 
his holy keeping, is my fervent prayer. You speak 
of the kindness of your dear mamma, and the things 
she used to say to you. I am happy you often recur 
to them in your thoughts ; it shows your affectionate 
love to her memory, which indeed should be much 
cherished. 

" God was merciful in giving us such a relative ; 
and now that he has removed her from us, we will 
endeavour to profit by calling to our minds the past. 
We will think of her meekness, and learn to bear 
what we meet with in the world without resistance 
and with little complaint. We will think of her deep 
humility, and seek to humble our hearts before the 
Lord. We will think of her exemplary patience, and 



430 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



learn to suffer affliction, and whatever the will of a 
Wise and Holy God may call us to hear, and not 
murmur against his allotments. We will think of 
her sweet simplicity, her fervour, and, withal, her 
benevolent desire for us in prayer ; and will endeavour 
to speak to God, often and devoutly, wherever we 
may be, and in all our engagements, as children to a 
tender father, who had much rather impart than with- 
hold his favours. I am much concerned that you 
should seek the Lord without any delay or reserve." 

The following notice of Mrs. Carey's death appeared 
in the Herald of September : — 

a The public meetings in this town (Birmingham) 
commenced on Friday, but commenced with a painful 
disappointment. On the arrival of our beloved bro- 
ther, Mr. E. Carey, whose presence and services were 
anticipated with no common pleasure, the melancholy 
tidings reached him that his amiable and pious com- 
panion had on the preceding Wednesday breathed her 
soul into the hands of the Saviour whom she loved. 
Thus the sacrifice, though long doubtful, was consum- 
mated which he made in the missionary cause, and a 
sacrifice of no small value, the most costly sacrifice 
which the survivor could offer. May He who has all 
riches at his disposal, supply the otherwise irreparable 
loss which this bereavement has created. When, 
therefore, the two preliminary meetings were held on 
Friday evening, our afflicted brother was under the 



RESIDENCE WITH MR. GTJRNEY. 



431 



necessity of travelling homewards to minister to his 
motherless children those consolations wherewith he 
himself was comforted of God ; not unaccompanied 
by the tender sympathies and affectionate prayers of 
those numerous friends who highly appreciate his 
services in the missionary cause, and sincerely love 
him for the sake of the Master whom he zealously 
serves." 

The truth of these remarks the reader will be able 
fully to appreciate. During the four years that Mrs. 
Carey was in England after her return, she never 
fully recovered the strength which she had lost in a 
tropical climate. As she so well shared the trial and 
the work of the missionary, so she has his reward — 
" in the world to come life everlasting." 

For some time before this event, Mr. and Mrs. 
Carey shared the hospitalities of their kind friend, 
Mr. W, B. Gurney, the warm-hearted supporter of all 
Protestant missions and missionaries, and the half 
centenary treasurer of the Baptist Missionary Society. 
His house continued to be Mr. Carey's home for 
some time; and, when not engaged in travelling, 
now more especially in this time of bereavement, he 
found great relief and consolation by his residence 
in this Christian family, where he was always wel- 
comed by its host as a brother beloved. To Mrs. 
Gurney, to whom he alludes in one of the foregoing 
letters, both he and Mrs. Carey were most affection- 



432 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ately attached. On the occasion of her death, Mr. Carey 
preached her funeral sermon from 1 Thess. v. 4 — 8. 

After alluding to some bequest left to the Society 
by a gentleman at Sheffield, whose circumstances 
were found after his decease involved in pecuniary 
difficulty, Mr. Carey writes : — ■ 

C( We may hereby lessen our difficulties in Scotland 
for the next deputation, which we should be anxious 
to do, for under the best attentions they will be 
found sufficiently formidable. 

"The collections here rise £10 above those of last 
year. You will say that's little; but you know 
Sheffield. We should have had a most excellent 
meeting last night but for the course pursued 
by — — , who made the Serampore men, their doings 
and their givings, the theme of nearly an hour's 
declamation. Now suppose some events should occur 
in the Independent Society necessitating a separation 
between it and some two or three of its missionaries — 
the auxiliary of that institution at Sheffield holds its 
anniversary, and invites me with some others to 
advocate — T take the opportunity of eulogizing most 
fervently the individuals from whom this institution 
has found it incumbent to separate, how incongruous 
it would appear [" 

" Bath, December 15, 1829. — We shall realize but 
sorrily in collections in this attempt. Sabbath evening 
I collected less than £8, though I begged zealously ! 



DEPUTATIONAL WOKK. 



433 



Mr. Leifchild collected but £5 last evening, after a 
superior sermon ! The religious people here will spend 
more this year in law than in gospel. 

"The Somersetshire people are numerous but 
rather spiritless, and I should judge inapt at giving. 
This is a science not deeply studied at Bath ; but 
better times may arrive. I see no reason to doubt of 
our course in coming upon this occasion • it is difficult 
to see how we could have done otherwise. Our 
business is to serve the Mission anywhere, and when 
called, without much respect to local differences. 
The truth is, that the zeal of no party here, for 
what is simply missionary, is so intense as to c eat 
them up/ 

" I nevertheless hope that though this effort may 
do little to pecuniary purpose, it may yet set going a 
little agency that may gradually improve into some- 
thing profitable. 

"I thought of going to-morrow for a few days to 
Bristol, but am scarcely decided. Should I do so, it 
will preclude my being at Birmingham until Thursday, 
which I suppose will be of no consequence. I am 
sorry the arrangements for Worcestershire are over- 
ruled." 

He now details his interview with two gentlemen 
proposed for missionary work : — 

"My interview with Messrs. C. and A. was very 
gratifying. The former, as you know, is an ardent 

F F 



434 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 




student, and well accomplished in the languages, from 
which his attention does not seem at all abated by his 
other pursuits. His piety, too, seems very ardent, 
and of the simplest character. This is indeed the 
case equally with both of them. Mr. A. has not 
possessed equal opportunities for mental improvement. 

"Their friendship appeared of a very intimate 
character ; and to be parted would prove a painful 
trial to both. My impression is that Mr. C. may 
prove of incalculable advantage as a translator with 
my brother Yates. He will be by far the highest 
literary character our Society has ever sent out, while 
his piety will serve his usefulness in other depart- 
ments. 

"Muswell Hill, January 2, 1830. — I omitted to 
introduce to you or the Committee something 
respecting the Scotch journey this coming season. 

" In recollecting matters, and considering the next 
effort, Mr. Morgan and I thought thus : 1st, that go 
who might, and when they might, more time should 
be bestowed or more labourers (say three instead of 
two) employed than on the former occasion; 2nd, 
that any time after J uly would be preferable to an 
earlier period ; 3rd, that now, with as little delay as 
may be convenient, the brethren there, as many as we 
can think of, should be written to for their advice 
and friendly offices in making arrangements in the 
different directions of the country, that strength and 



VISIT TO SCOTLAND. 



435 



time may be economized when the work comes in. 
Whoever goes, there will be found plenty of labour 
and small pay. But yet with patient and with dili- 
gent attention to a great number of places, but little 
attended to before, we may keep alive past influences, 
perhaps create new ones, and may perhaps be the 
means of serving our own denomination in some small 
degree, while we endeavour to serve the Mission. 
4th, I wish not to go ; though should I be solicited, 
and not prepared, I would positively refuse. But I am 
convinced that the one who went before should go 
again, for the sake of taking up the work with greater 
ease than perfect strangers would do, especially con- 
sidering our new circumstances in that country. 

" Finally, would it not be well for you as you can 
make it convenient to begin corresponding with 
Messrs. Gilmore and Dunn, Aberdeen, &c., with 
friends at Edinburgh, &c. ; that most of the needful 
information may be in readiness, and the plan 
sketched out, so that there be no need of a long con- 
sideration of the case at the quarterly committee 
meeting. Excuse my long epistle." 

Mr. Carey now r starts for a second journey to 
Scotland. His first letter is addressed to Mr. Dyer, 
from Berwick. 

"March 18, 1830. — In a letter recently received 
from Calcutta my esteemed brethren inform me of 
their having passed to my credit the fair proportion 

F F 2 



436 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



of the amount of the ' Widows' and Orphan Fund/ 
realized by them, which they recommend me to 
render available in any way I may think eligible in 
this country. Now, as Providence has effected so 
much in my circumstances, as to supersede the neces- 
sity of such provision, I beg to propose that the 
Committee unite the amount with that of their own 
fund formed for the same purpose in this country. 

"March 31, 1830.— Thus far a gracious Pro- 
vidence has helped me onward. I proceeded from 
York forthwith to Newcastle, where I arrived on the 
20th instant. I engaged both at Mr. Pengilly's 
and Mr. Sampson's. The collection small; but the 
attendance good ! The succeeding evening I addressed 
a pretty large congregation at Mr. Pengilly's, though 
no formal collection was made. The succeeding even- 
ings were spent at Sunderland, and South and North 
Shields. The pecuniary proceeds not great, but excel - 
lent congregations were gathered, and a hold thus 
retained and secured for another year. I would 
observe here, lest it should escape me afterwards, 
that either two persons should attend to Newcastle 
and the places above-named, or another week should 
be occupied. 

" One Sabbath at the two Shields should without 
doubt be granted. North Shields is very important 
to serve, as it would serve us well in return, there 
being many of the Friends, who are very kind, and 



VISIT TO SCOTLAND. 



437 



who contribute. They need to be called upon, talked 
with freely, and their friendship well cultivated. I 
hastened about with our most worthy minister of the 
place, and called upon several, who seemed pleased 
with the attention. Our friends are convinced that 
if we succeed at all in proportion to the worth of our 
cause, it must be by fairly exhibiting its merits. 
These places need no otherwise to be associated with 
the Scotch journey than as matters of economy. On 
the alternate year, when Scotland is not visited, they 
might be connected with the west of Yorkshire. If 
public meetings were holden much effect must be 
produced beyond what preachings can secure — more 
assistance gained and much labour saved to the depu- 
tation ; for the whole of the engagement falling upon 
me for four or five nights in succession, it proved 
quite enough. We are under much obligation to 
Mr. Pengilly for his most brotherly assistance. I 
enjoyed my visit greatly. 

" Saturday I proceeded to Alnwick." Writing of 
two friends there — "All their attachments for the 
mission were cultivated under former sympathies — 
admiration of Fuller at home, and Carey, Marshman, 
and Ward abroad; — the preaching of the one, the 
labours of the others, were the charms. Such friends 
have an idea that the present course of the Committee 
and the Junior missionaries is as opposed to Mr. Fuller 
as to the men of Serampore ; and to go about unde- 



438 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ceiving them is a task troublesome and thankless. 
The way is to take it easily, enlighten them as the 
ease is incidentally brought in by their own remarks, 
and improve then their kindly feeling as far as it 
exists to the object of our mission. We are cer- 
tainly much obliged by their kindness ; and to seek 
to lessen the pleasure of their former remembrances 
would be as imprudent as it would be misanthropic. 

" I have been benignly received at Berwick. I 
hastened to attend a Bible Society anniversary on 
Monday evening. 

" I am not sanguine in my hopes as to this visit to 
Scotland, but my fears may be lessened as we press 
forward. 

"Edinburgh, April 9, 1830. — I arrived in this 
city Thursday afternoon. In communicatiug, I shall 
state all that strikes me as disadvantageous and 
painful, first; and secondly, whatever appears pro- 
mising. 

u And first as to myself — for self will come in — by 
an unlooked-for change of weather, the wind sud- 
denly shifting from a warm quarter to the north-east, 
I took a sad cold, which, though it has not laid me 
up, yet deprives me of all elasticity of spirit, and in 
a great measure of comfort in my work. Secondly — I 
am yet alone; so what is deficient in me is not as yet 
made up by the energies of another, and the ulterior 
arrangements are holden in some degree of suspense. 



VISIT TO SCOTLAND. 



439 



Thirdly — Those who do disservice to the Society- 
appear of late to have been effectually active ; princi- 
pally by circulating my uncle Carey's letter of com- 
plaint against the Society. The impression, I under- 
stand, is so strong to our disadvantage, at Glasgow, 
that upon its being inquired and put to the vote 
in Dr. Wardlaw's church, whether we were to be 
received, the question was decided in the negative, 
and this letter was the cause. Glasgow, I am told, 
is full of it; so that our labour there promises to 
be more difficult than before. As to Ayrshire, 
Mr. Barclay writes to a friend, without being solicited 
on the subject, that all the pulpits are engaged for 
Serampore. So much for the dark side. 

"Sabbath morning I preached at Mr. Xnnes's, 
and in the evening at Messrs. Paddy and Deeker's. 
The congregations were both good; the collections 
moderate. A gentleman called next morning, and 
gave me £10 for the Mission. Mr. J. Brown is 
very kind. I am to preach in his large church 
Sabbath evening next. Mr. Swan is to occupy the 
Tabernacle, Mr. James Haldane's, in the afternoon; 
and I follow his sermon with a missionary address. 
He is to engage three times if he pleases. 

" I am going to-morrow to Leith to occupy a large 
chapel in the evening. I have called upon Mr. Robert 
Haldane, who was kind. I am going to breakfast 
with them on Friday morning. Much of my time 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



lias been occupied in making calls, which, as you 
well know, is a necessary part of the work. 

" Next Tuesday we think of starting for the North. 
If time can possibly be allowed, we ought to go into 
Ayrshire, and try how matters can be made to speed. 
The claims of the Society, it appears to me, should 
not be holclen so cheaply, as that we should forego 
all opportunity of urging them at the pleasure of 
any one or five men. If Mr. B. frown, some may 
smile. Give us all the advice you can, and pray 
for us, and encourage us, as I am sure you do, and 
will continue to do. 

cc Wincobank, Nov. 16, 1830. — Having accom- 
plished our work in Sheffield, I came last night to 
this earthly paradise to rest and solace myself for a 
few days. I indeed feel a little rest and retirement 
will be of some service, at least I hope so, in recruiting 
my spirits. 

" This journey, though its engagements may not 
seem to have been numerous, has been as laborious and 
trying as almost any undertaken for some time. Before 
I see you again, I shall not have passed over less than 
a thousand miles. What a mercy to have been so far 
the children of a gracious Providence, as to travel 
year after year as safely as we rest in our beds ! 

" We had a very sweet meeting last evening, though 
its pecuniary results were not great. Mr. Gilbert, of 
Nottingham; Mr. Montgomery; Cubitt, a Metho- 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



dist brother, &c, all spoke in most excellent Christian 
style and with best effect. I have never heard in any 
part of the kingdom a course of speaking better 

directed, or more ably sustained. That Mr. 

was not present, owing to a cold. 

" The different parts of Lincolnshire are to be taken, 
as we can obtain pulpits or platforms, in successive 
days next week. I have written to Mr. Crapps to 
negotiate with the different parties. I have also 
written to Mr. Foster, of Biggleswade, to obtain, if 
he can, the last Sabbath in this month for the mission 
at Hitchin, and holding a meeting there on Monday, 
we might proceed thence to Cambridge and Bedford on 
succeeding days. In this matter I have deviated from 
the common course, believing you had left so much 
time unoccupied. 

u Should Hitchin not take a Sabbath, the promised 
visit may be paid to Harlow, in Essex, whence I may 
make the best of my way to Bedfordshire. In case 
this take effect, it will require you should kindly drop 
a line to Mr. Pinch, to obtain his consent. 

u Letters addressed to ministers and friends upon 
the subject of anniversaries, had perhaps better not be 
included in parcels, being by that means liable to 
detention, and some inconvenience occurring to the 
parties concerned. At both Derby and Sheffield, the 
arrangements were in danger of failing, through 
some singular delay occasioned by this course." 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Alluding to his replies respecting the Serampore 
controversy, he says in this letter : — 

u I trust the next pamphlet will contain the last 
line it will be ever needful to publish on this subject." 

TO A FRIEND. 

"Denmark Hill, Dec. 23, 1830.— Through a gra- 
cious Providence, I was safely conducted through a 
journey of more than ten weeks, without finding it 
needful to relinquish a single engagement. Upon my 
return I found it necessary to submit to a few medical 
attentions, of which already I feel in some degree the 
benefit. By the end of next week I hope to be able 
to commence missionary work in Shropshire, Worces- 
tershire, and Hereford ; but the engagements will 
prove comparatively light. I trust I am not without 
some degree of pleasure in my work, but more love to 
Christ and to the souls of men would vastly increase 
it. "With that principle in exercise, the severest duties 
are easy; without it the easiest are severe. For my 
want of this I am utterly ashamed and confounded. 
My infirmities I am convinced my Lord will pity ; 
but ingratitude for infinite benefactions secured at such 
a price as the blood of an infinite sufferer, is a crime 
for which we ought to feel it difficult to procure our 
own forgiveness, though we are not forbidden to hope 
and pray for his. 

u The enclosed is a little volume by a fellow-mis- 



ON TRIALS. 



443 



sionary, Mr. Leslie, in which he exhibits, under 
feigned names, certain characters forming one of our 
mission establishments, and exhibiting a scene as 
choice and endearing as is to be met with in any por- 
tion of the heathen world. Some of the most inte- 
resting characters I knew and loved, who are now 
asserting an influence and enjoying a portion in that 
blessed world, c where their sun shall no more go down, 
nor their moon withdraw itself/ How much, dear 
madam, do we need to be conversant with the thoughts 
of a better world, to procure to our wounded hearts 
any tolerable solace under the manifold sorrows and 
bitter bereavements of this. I ought, perhaps, to use 
softer words when speaking of Providential visita- 
tions, but who that has lost four lovely children, 
and as kind a wife as ever soothed a husband's sor- 
rows, and as patient a wife as ever bore with a hus- 
band's faults and feebleness, can forbear to sigh ? I 
have had choicest companions in labour, in suffering, 
in pleasures, too, which I fear will not again return ; 
some of them have passed into eternity, from the rest 
I am 1:2,000 miles removed, with but faint hope of 
rejoining their company. My heart feels desolate 
within me. I am now with my friend, Mr. Gurney. 
He is a faithful, and to me an endeared friend. His 
astonishing and unwearied talents for business give 
him a vast superiority to me in sustaining affliction. 
Many and sincere thanks for your mention of Ches- 



444 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



terfield, and your tender offers of oversight as to my 
dear Annie. My two children are my only earthly 
possession. The sole pleasure reserved for me in 
concluding my different journeys is the sight of 
them." 

In the spring of 1831 Mr. Carey visited Liverpool. 
Of the public meeting he writes to Mr. Dyer — "I 
should have written to you yesterday, but visiting 
occupied me almost from morning to evening. I am 
happy to say that our meeting was by far, very far, 
superior to any previous one I ever witnessed in this 
town; not a jarring note was uttered. My brethren, 
Burchell and Curzon, the one by his most impor- 
tant and exhilarating details, the other by his simple 
and ardent pathos, gave the fullest satisfaction. "We 
had almost all the speaking ministers of different 
denominations in the town. Mr. Cropper, the ' Friend/ 
was our chairman. He gave £20 to the collection. 
It was, therefore, larger than at any former year 
(nearly £70). Everybody, ministers and people, 
seemed well pleased. I never felt so happy in the 
good speaking of brethren, and in the good character 
of a meeting, before. A thousand pounds given to 
us without such attendant circumstances, at such a 
juncture, would hardly have delighted me so much, 
nor do I think it would have been of equal benefit to 
the institution. Our Christian friends are encouraged 
and delighted. I came hither, as you know, with 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



much reluctance and a heavy heart. Blessed be God 
for his mercy to us ! I hope, in future, we shall be 
less solicitous. We owe much to God and much 
to our dear friends. I proceed to Shrewsbury to- 
morrow.^ 

" Shrewsbury, Aug. 13, 1831. — Two or three par- 
ticulars as I am able to think of them . First, I am 
sorry that the Annual Reports have not reached 
Sheffield. It is a disappointment. I promised to 
name it : also, to request Mr. Stanger to enclose one 
i Supplement/ inscribing it with Eustace Carey's 
respects, to James Montgomery, Esq. — the poet, I 
mean. Secondly, in the Liverpool parcels of next 
month to enclose two to the care of Mr. Saunders, 
one of which should be addressed to the Rev. Dr. 
Ralph, a Scotch minister. He told me that Mr. Hope 
had sent him the Serampore pamphlets. We cannot 
afford to keep pace with our opponents, but now and 
then they instruct us. 

"Thirdly, as the summer closes, say September, 
brother Curzon and myself wish to be deputed to 
Ireland, if the Committee think proper to send us. 
We do not, indeed, expect to procure much ; but we 
do hope, by the recommendations we might obtain 
from various quarters and to different denominations, 
and by holding meetings or by preaching as we were 
able, and by travelling as economically as possible, 
we might do a little more than bear our expenses, and 



446 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



perhaps prepare the way for something hereafter. 
We were a little encouraged in speaking upon the 
subject at Liverpool. It seems desirable to try if 
anything can be clone for the Society. The Inde- 
pendent brethren go, and seem to succeed; the 
Serampore people go, and do well. As we have 
plenty of missionary strength at home this year, it 
seems the more important to break up new ground, if 
we can. 

ec Fourthly, the week after next my work in these 
parts ends. Could I not spend Sabbath, 29th, at 
Olney, Bucks, or at some small places in Northamp- 
tonshire, Kislingbury, or Blisworth, or Milton, Road, 
or Hackleton ? or visit them in succession ? 

cc Finally, will you kindly communicate with our 
dear friend, Mr. Wilson, respecting a long talked-of 
Sabbath at Tunbridge Wells. 

(: Scarcely any attempts have been made in this 
county hitherto. But some little ground being now 
obtained by connecting it with the work and the 
deputation of Warwickshire, in future years more 
may be attempted, and with advantage. I am 
grieved at the diminution of our friends. May the 
gracious Lord open some hearts to give. 

" P.S. What a vexatious thing ! The good old 

gentleman, Mr. , has died with an old incomplete 

Will, worth little except to attorneys, if I be rightly 
informed. Our Society, I fear, will get nothing. 



VISIT TO IRELAND. 



447 



It's a noble idea of Mr. Gurney's, that a man should 
make his property turn to good account while he 
lives. 

" Poor Mack, I believe, is yet living ; and whether 
I can remain a Sabbath or not, I should again like to 
see him, if I can do it without neglecting my work." 

In November Mr. Carey went to Ireland in com- 
pany with the Hon. and Rev. G. R. Curzon. He 
writes to Mr. Dyer : — 

" Dublin, Nov. 28, 1831.— After an excellent pas- 
sage of only fourteen hours I reached this city in 

good health and fair spirits. I called on Mr. , 

the Baptist minister, and preached for him on the 

Sabbath. Mr. 's congregation, in a place that 

will hold six or seven hundred, consisted of about 
forty persons. To keep anything like life in me, I 
preached as fast as I could possibly utter my words, 
taking, too, as animated a subject as I could select. 

cc But ten times preaching in such a place would 

render me insolvent. Mr. is kind to our 

object and kind to us. He devotes his time to going 
about with us. He is, however, exceedingly heavy 
in appearance and manner, dull and graceless in 
speech, and withal not a little deaf, so that I know 
not which party is the more obliged, the one in being 
served in our mission, or he in exercising our for- 
bearance. But we must both bear with each other, 
and get on in our very best style, until we have 



418 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



accomplished all the needful calls. We are going to- 
morrow to solicit pulpits with no high expectations. 
But we will spare no solicitude. We hope to hold a 
public meeting next week, if a number of ministers 
can be gotten to help, and if they cannot we will try 
to fill up the whole of our time ourselves. The people 
of Dublin seem almost to have forgotten that there is 
any Baptist Missionary Society. But we tell our 
entire story, and as largely and as strongly, and every- 
where, and as often as we can. We called upon dear 
Miss Hearman and her pious sisters this morning. 
The Bible was brought out, and we had exposition 
and prayer. These ladies will do all they can to help 
us, and they know the Serampore controversy exists, 
which is all the better. 

" Whether the Society succeed or not in this depu- 
tation, they may rest assured we will do whatever 
strength and opportunity enable, but at present we 
cannot be sanguine as to pecuniary results. We think 
of doing our utmost in Dublin before we proceed else- 
where. We then design to spend a little time south ; 
in Cork, Clonmel, Carlow, &c. Then take the north, 
and finishing it, return by Carlisle, Northumberland, 
Durham, Cockermouth, Workington, Westmoreland, 
Lancaster, Preston, and towards Liverpool, home." 

"Dublin, Dec. 11. — Ireland contains many most 
devout and benevolent people, who seem to live as 
much for the glory of God as do any Christians I 



VISIT TO IEELAND. 



449 



have ever become acquainted with. They are most of 
them in the respectable and higher classes of society. 
They devote much of their time and property to 
education. I was present at a school last Sabbath 
where two or three hundred children are instructed, 
both boys and girls. I went silently from class 
to class, and was struck with admiration of the 
manner in which the ladies unfolded and impressed 
the Word of God. I never heard from any ministers 
at any time clearer or more forcible expositions of 
some portions of the epistles, portions of no very easy 
solution, but which they managed with great facility. 
I gave an address, and prayed with them at the close 
of the service. The bane of this country is Roman 
Catholicism, by which three-fourths of the entire 
population are holden in heathenish darkness and in 
worse than heathen bondage. One great difficulty 
with which its subversion is attended, arises from the 
amount of truth which it avowedly recognises. It is 
never so difficult to displace error from the minds of 
men when it is gross and unattended with anything 
Scriptural, as it is when truth and error are blended 
and inlaid. Hence they acknowledge the divinity of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, and the merit of his atone- 
ment, but then they associate with these great doc- 
trines the mediatorship and merits of a countless 
number of saints. I am much fatigued by going 
about and talking so much." 

G G 



450 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



TO HIS SON. 

" Dublin, Dec. 30. — Never, my dearest boy, live 
a day, no, not even an hour, without devoutly and 
fervently lifting your heart up in prayer to God. 
Think what it is to have a soul to save ; to have hell 
to escape and heaven to obtain ; to have a degenerate 
nature, to be renewed in its brief passage through 
such a world as this ; or it must for ever perish ! 
Let me know in your letter, which I hope you will 
dispatch as early as possible after your receipt of this, 
how you proceed in your religious feelings and 
pursuits. Seek our blessed Lord Jesus to pardon, 
renew, and bless you. Seek, in the course of a day, 
many times, by a passage of Scripture and verse of a 
hymn, and every occasion you can meet with, to send 
petitions to heaven. This, together with stated and 
more formal exercises, will form your mind into a 
habit of devotion, and make the matter of religion so 
acceptable to you and so much your element, that 
you will say with David, « — 'My soul thirsteth for 
God, yea, for the living God ; when shall I come and 
appear before God?' 

" Respecting yourself, I had rather a painful dream 
last night, which agitated me greatly, and which left 
an impression upon my imagination and my feelings 
not easy of dismission. It was one not very dissimilar 
to what I had in June last, only a night or two 
before the trouble which befel us then. I hope it is 



LETTERS. 



451 



not ominous. I am not, that I am aware, supersti- 
tiously concerned about dreams, but am equally far 
from a total disregard of them. I seldom omit to 
pray against them ; and yet few people suffer more 
from painful visions than I do. I believe Satan is 
permitted often in judgment, and for the correction 
of our sins, to afflict us in our sleeping moments ; and 
the great and malignant enemy, knowing our phy- 
sical weakness and all the diseases of our poor, dying 
bodies, chooses our weakest moments to oppress and 
wound us. How much we need God's mercy by 
night as well as by day to save both body and soul 
from harm." 

TO A FRIEND. 

"Denmark Hill, Oct., 1831. — I ought, long ere 
this, to have written you. My incessant moving ever 
since I left your beloved abode, with scarcely a 
day's intermission, I hope you will allow in some 
degree to plead my apology. I hope my engage- 
ments may be considered by me as those to which 
God has providentially called me; nor am I quite 
without hope that in some instances he graciously 
succeeds them; but often my spirit sinks into deep 
depression. I see much less fruit of my labour than 
God ordinarily grants to his servants ; and which is 
far worse, I have too much reason to suspect the 
cause of it must be looked for in my own unsuitable- 
ness for his blessed service. I certainly perceive 

G G 2 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



daily an augmented cause for humiliation before the 
Lord ; to deprecate his displeasure, and with deepest 
prostration of spirit to cast myself at the cross of our 
compassionate Saviour. I feel nothing but despair 
awaiting me, but as I am able to avail myself of that 
immeasurable love of God which that cross demon- 
strates to a guilty world, while no sins can be for- 
given but through that medium, so, on the other 
hand, none are so great as to surpass its virtue to 
cancel. You, my beloved madam, I trust, live in the 
full enjoyment of all those blessings which that cross, 
through the mercy of God, is the medium of convey- 
ing to believing minds. May the comforts of God's 
presence, through the e Son of his love/ abound in 
you and every member of your dear family more 
and more, until you all ' comprehend, with the saints, 
what are the depths and heights, and lengths and 
breadths of the love of Christ, which passeth know- 
ledge, that ye may be filled with the fulness of 
God.' " 

TO THE SAME. 

" Fen Court, Nov. 21. — I truly sympathize with 

your dear daughter, Mrs. in her recent 

bereavement; and yet cannot help rejoicing in the 
spirit of devout submission to the will of God, and 
that confident resignation to the appointments of his 
inscrutable wisdom, by which maternal tenderness 
has been controlled and hushed into perfect silence 



ON TRIALS. 



453 



from love to the invisible and perfect Ruler. Thus it is 
that the most painful temporal visitations are made the 
choicest occasions of spiritual improvement, and ex- 
pound to us more clearly than the lips of ministers ever 
could, how c all things work together for good to them 
who love God, and are called according to his purpose/ 

Your own presence at ■ will prove no small 

solace to your children in their affliction ; for as you 
have drank of the same cup before them, so you have 
participated those appropriate consolations which God 
reserves for the afflicted, and can comfort the mourners 
with the same consolations wherewith you yourself 

have been comforted of God. You and Mr. 

are amongst the happiest of God's people. To have 
so many of your children loved of all who know 
them, and loved of God, and under that salutary 
discipline which, by the grace of his redeeming 
Spirit, shall qualify them for the functions of his 
eternal presence, should inspire you with no ordinary 
thankfulness. 

" I am yet leading a fugitive life, c removing to 
and fro/ It best suits my desolate condition. Since 
my dear companion has been removed I have no 
attachment to place, so that I make no sacrifice 
by constantly journeying. I need not tell you, my 
dear madam, that place has but little to do in deter- 
mining the amount of our happiness, compared with 
our mental and religious condition. 



454 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY 



"Did my feelings correspond with my work, I 
must always be among the happiest of God's people. 
But here I feel ashamed and confounded before 
him, and have no resource but in the plenary mercy 
of Jesus." 



CHAP. XVI. 



JAMAICA AND SLAVERY — JOURNEYS CONTINUED. 

" All other sorrows virtue may endure, 
And find submission more than half the cure, 
But slavery ! — Virtue dreads it as a grave ; 
Patience itself is meanness in a slave." 

We have now arrived at another remarkable period in 
the history of the Baptist Missionary Society with 
which Mr. Carey was associated. The names of those 
who were the heroes of this extraordinary crisis, and 
of the events which were in 1831 looming in the dis- 
tance, will be conveyed to the latest posterity on the 
pages of the Society's records. While these pages 
show the afflictions which befel the Society at this 
time, they also detail the manner in which these 
afflictions issued in a final and glorious triumph over 
the foulest curse which ever afflicted a British ter- 
ritory. 

Early in the year 1832 the ever-memorable insur- 
rection in Jamaica took place. With the main facts 
of this movement, and with its results, the reader is 
not unacquainted. How that the Baptist chapels 



6 



456 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



were maliciously burnt down, the missionaries perse- 
cuted and thrown into prison from whence they were 
rescued^ and from the hands of their murderous perse- 
cutors, by all but miraculous intervention ; and how 
that one of them, hurled by the wrath of the planters 
on to his native shores, returned not to his work in 
those colonies until he had given the death-blow to 
the accursed system of slavery. 

Those who remember the fearful panic which was 
produced in the minds of Christians at home, when 
news came of the demolition of our chapels in Jamaica, 
will not fail to recollect their own terrified thoughts 
at this time. Truly it might then have been said, 
" The floods have lifted up, oh Lord, the floods have 
lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their waves. " 
But what Christian heart did not add, " The Lord on 
high is mightier than the voice of many waters ; yea, 
than the mighty waves of the sea." There were 
scenes in our chapels at home then which some who 
witnessed them will never forget. Some of these 
were thronged by crowds of earnest, sympathising 
worshippers, who poured out their souls to God in 
prayer for their persecuted brethren in Jamaica. The 
very portions of Scripture read by the pastors of our 
churches on those mournful days, are vividly retained 
on the minds of some who were then present, and 
who understood better than they had ever done before 
the beauty, the pathos, the telling rhythm of some of 



JAMAICA AND SLAVERY. 



457 



those mournful Hebrew melodies which they had 
often read but never before realized. 

The 74th Psalm especially brings back the fear, the 
intense anxiety depicted on the countenances of some 
friends of the Mission. Never did Hebrew prophet 
or captive chant more dejectedly than did they — 

" Lift rip thy feet imto the perpetual desolations ; 
Even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanc- 
tuary," &c. 

As those words fell on the ear of the worshippers, 
Jamaica seemed to be at our very door. The demo- 
lished chapels were placed vividly before the mind; 
the bitter and heartrending cry of the churches in 
that afflicted country thrilled through every soul. 
The sound of the driver's whip seemed within reach 
of these houses of God ; and the rattling of the chain 
of slavery, the bleeding bodies of the praying slaves 
were there amongst this wrestling company. How 
delightful for the Church of Christ in all future time 
to remember that the history of these events records 
not only that " prayer was made of the church unto 
God for them/' as on another memorable occasion ; 
but as then, so now, the " wrath of man was made to 
praise God, and the remainder thereof he restrained." 

Not only were the persons of the missionaries pre- 
served, but their characters were vindicated; and 
that very event which the enemies of the slave both 
at home and abroad dreaded and desired to avert, was 



458 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



hastened on and mainly accomplished by the zeal and 
the determination which were now by their means 
awakened. 

"Well, pilot, what news?" said William Knibb, 
when coming into the English Channel in 1832. 

" The Reform Bill has passed." 

" Thank God, now Fll have slavery down ! I will 
never rest day nor night till I see it destroyed, root 
and branch \" 

And where was the Christian to be found at this 
time in England who vowed not with the missionary 
undying enmity to slavery ? Who that had the hap- 
piness of hearing Mr. Knibb on the 21st June, cannot 
recall his fearless countenance, his noble bearing, his 
powerful and ringing voice, as it rose like the noise 
of turbulent waters and then fell on the ear in the 
tenderest accents of the weeping babe. The very 
recollection of this and some other astonishing appeals 
of his, produces at this day a thrilling effect on the 
mind, unequalled, perhaps, by any other of a like 
kind. 

Such recollections accompany these sentences in 
his speech delivered at the annual meeting of the 
Baptist Missionary Society. He rose and said : — 

u The cause I have to plead is so important, the 
embassy on which I am sent by my brother mission- 
aries is so intimately connected with the best interests 
of 800,000 of our suffering fellow-creatures held in 



JAMAICA AND SLAVERY. 



45» 



the chains of slavery, that an apology from me would 
be absurd." 

The sentence which followed these words fled 
without electric telegraph to the land of the oppressed, 
and loosened every fetter. Alarming as its fearless 
utterance was to some of the wisest and most benevo- 
lent men of the times, yet what did it not effectuate 
on behalf of the slave ? Deep were the shadows 
which rested at this time not only on the religious 
but on the political difficulties which attended the 
removal of this enormity. But they were not only 
right words, they were spoken at a right time to a 
right people. Thus spake this champion of the 
slave : — - 

cc I now stand forward as the unflinching and un- 
daunted advocate of immediate emancipation. I 
plead for liberty to worship God on behalf of 30,000 
Christian slaves of the same faith as yourselves ; and 
if the friends of the mission will not hear me — (some 
one here privately touched him, lest he should go too 
far) — " I hope that the God of Missions will. Having 
in his strength entered on this noble contest, I will 
never cease to plead for the people I love, till, aided 
by British Christians and by Afric's God, we wave 
the flag of liberty over departed colonial slavery, 
shout with melodious harmony its funeral dirge, and 
proclaim, as we leave the spot in which we have 
entombed the greatest curse that has ever stained the 



460 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAftEY. 



annals of nations, ' Glory to God in the highest, on 
earth peace and goodwill to men / "# 

Thus spake Mr. Knibb in June, 1832. The reader 
knows what was accomplished in the short period of 
two years, and forgets not to connect with this date, 
August 1, 1834, and August 1, 1838. The former 
of these was set apart as a day of thanksgiving, for it 
was the day of the slaves' partial freedom. No such 
day had been known in England for centuries. Its 
hours were hallowed by many, and will not be soon 
erased from the memories of England's grateful people. 
It was a day to behold which Wilberforce, Buxton, 
Clarkson, and a host of honoured men and women in 
Britain had exhausted their life's freshest and choicest 
energies for years, and had mingled their very drink 
with weeping. Who that had any recollection of 
the scenes just described, did not watch the breaking 
of that day, and listen for the falling off of the clank- 
ing chains from the feet and hands that had worn them 
so long. Never did the beams of the rising sun play 
more musicallv on the Meamino; mist of the morning. 
They were like angels' fingers opening both the 
prison-doors and the windows of heaven, transmitting 
sweetest music from the skies. Who on that day 
paid not the vows which his lips had spoken when he 
w r as in trouble, in thanksgiving for such a deliverance. 
This w^as a crisis not only in England's history, but 
* Memoir of William Knibb. 



JAMAICA AND SLAVEEY. 



461 



in the history of the wide world itself. That sentence 
of Mr. KnibVs cannot fail to remind us of another 
sentence uttered in behalf of the great cause of civil 
and religious liberty in another sort of assembly, 
" Here I stand; I can do no other; God help me." 

It may, however, be very justly remarked, that but 
for the preparatory work which had been going on for 
years in this country on behalf of the slave, a hundred 
Mr. Knibbs could not have effectuated that which 
one Mr. Knibb did mainly in the years 1832-38. 
While the truth of this statement is fully conceded, 
may it not be a great encouragement for all who are 
occupied in preparatory work ? For those are as truly 
and effectually building the house who lay the foun- 
dation, who erect the scaffolding, who carry the bricks 
and mortar up the ladder, as those who cement them 
together ; as he who puts on the ornamental topstone, 
" crying grace, grace unto it." 

At the same time, all praise must be given to him 
who allows himself to be made by the times, as well 
as to him who makes the times. Now, the former 
Mr. Knibb did. The praise due to him, therefore, is 
not lessened one iota. In this vast work-day w^orld, 
do the claims of duty, humanity, and virtue always 
find plenty of persons who are willing to contribute 
their sympathy and their aid, — or, to use a familiar 
proverb, are there always to be found plenty of strong 
arms to work at the anvil, and to " strike when the 



462 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



iron is hot ?" The writer thinks not. Herein, then, 
lies Mr. Knibb's immortal praise. 

Blessed be God ! slavery is with ns a thing of 
yesterday ; but is it a thing of yesterday in this wide 
world of ours ? Who that thinks now of England's 
bright era, when her Queen was crowned over a vir- 
tually free people, turns not an eye beyond those 
colonies, and ejaculates, cc How long, oh Lord, holy 
and true, wilt thou cease to avenge the blood of f three 
millions of slaves' on them that dwell on the earth V J 

"Where is Freedom now? She stands weeping at the 
grave of William Knibb, because there is no one of 
all America's sons who dares to stand up in Christian 
assemblies throughout the length and breadth of the 
land, North, and South, and say — u I now stand 
forward as the unflinching and undaunted advocate 
of immediate emancipation." Were it so, those fetters 
which it is said c: were welded at a British forge," 
and which took Old England six years to knock off, 
might be broken by the strong arm of young America 
in half that time. The jubilee of the world will 
then have come, when man shall nowhere possess 
property in his fellow-man; — -no human blood, nor 
bones, nor flesh than that which he owns personally 
as the gift of his Creator. 

There cannot fail to be noticed, in the history of 
these events, the delightful fact, that what our first 
missionaries were to India, the land of the morning, 



JAMAICA AND SLAVERY. 



463 



and to its vast continent of moral and physical 
evils, that our missionaries were to " the sunburnt and 
slave-cursed island" of Jamaica. From this fact may 
it not be lawful to gather this conclusion, that it will 
be for posterity to learn through missionary records, 
and for our national history to record, that whether 
on the far off continent of India, or in the sunny 
islands of the Western seas, Christian missionaries 
have been the leading benefactors of the human race. 
"When this national history shall be written, there 
will be no Westminster Hevietos. These will have 
been assimilated by the gods for whom the Reviewers 
have so much respect. 

If anything ever induced Mr. Carey to lose sight 
for a time of India, it was the interest which he now 
took in the emancipation of the slaves in the West 
Indies. He often mentioned, in connexion with this 
subject, the prayer of his Uncle, first uttered at 
Paulerspury, and continued through his life — (C Have 
mercy upon the oppressed and afflicted slaves/' 

Nothing could exceed the delight and the buoyancy 
with which Mr. Carey united with his companions, 
Mr. Knibb and Mr. Burchell, in their great work at 
this time ; and he bore no inconsiderable share in the 
labours which were now carried on by the Baptist 
Missionary Society for the utter destruction of this 
abomination in the Islands of the West. 

When on the missionary platform with them^ it 



464 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



was generally allotted to him to make the first speech, 
and after his usual appeal for India, he would make 
some happy turn from East to West, appeal to the 
audience on behalf of the slaves, and then in his own 
epithets, introduce Mr. Knibb and his not less valiant 
colleague, Mr. Burchell. 

The following extracts from his letters, will bring be- 
fore the reader some of his engagements with them : — ■ 

" Reading, June 20, 1832. — If ever Scotland be 
rendered of any valuable consequence to our Mission 
again, which to me is rather problematical, this 
appears to me to be the juncture for making it so. 

" I could not desire a more amiable companion in 
travelling than Dr. Cox, and no doubt his excellence 
will appear to others when he shall be known. But 
it should be remembered that he only designs to visit 
Edinburgh and Glasgow, and then return. Perhaps 
both he and the Committee misunderstand the cha- 
racter of these places as to their present relations to 
our Mission. Mr. Steane (now Dr. Steane) and 
myself found the utmost difficulty in obtaining places 
to occupy for a single Sabbath ; and then the collec- 
tions were very inconsiderable. 

" If then it be practicable to depute brother Knibb 
to help on this expedition, I think with his uncommon 
ardour and his equally uncommon materials, we might 
be justified in every place in calling public meetings, 
might do something to dissolve the old Serampore 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



465 



spell, by which many have rather excused themselves 
from the claims of foreign benevolence altogether, 
and perhaps we might make even Scotchmen feel. 
If arrangements therefore can be made for brother 
KnibVs going, it maybe for good. He could produce 
more impression than even brother Burchell, because 
he speaks with greater energy. Our predicament as 
a Mission is very peculiar. May our gracious Lord 
direct and sustain all at home and all abroad." 

" Colne, Lancashire, August 3, 1832. — The coming 
Sabbath at Rochdale, the public meeting at that 
place, and one in the evening of Wednesday, will 
terminate, as far as at present appears, my engage- 
ment in this county. I anx then proceeding into 
Shropshire, taking one or two places on my way 
thither to fill up the latter end of the week. After 
the work in that county ends, which I suppose will 
be in the week after the Sabbath above named, I shall 
be at command for other work. 

" There are the following places which should be 
taken before going into Scotland — Ross, Gloucester- 
shire, Cirencester, and Bacup. 

" Our meetings at Birmingham, Liverpool, and 
Manchester, and in all the lesser places this week, 
have been uncommonly interesting. A great disap- 
pointment happened to us in Mr. Knibb feeling 
under the necessity of leaving us for Birmingham and 
Bristol to settle his family. Both Aldis and myself 

H H 



466 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



have heard him frequently, have collected a great por- 
tion of the facts of the West Indian case, which, 
together with the principles and the sentiments with 
which it is natural to associate them, have enabled us 
to deliver in each place addresses of more than usual 
length, which have seemed to make up in some degree 
for his regretted absence. 

"When our brother has made his domestic arrange- 
ments, I trust he will not find it difficult to hold 
himself regularly to the engagements which may be 
made, indeed I have no reason to doubt it ; and great 
care must be taken in permitting friends to make 
plans in which he is comprehended, that he may be 
clearly at liberty to fulfil them ; for our work cannot 
speed if people are not in excellent temper. 

cc I cannot but hope that the present is a great and 
blessed crisis, deeply afflictive as its origin has been, 
and that unspeakable good will issue from it. Our 
brother's communications have been of wonderful 
effect. One of the new candidates for Manchester 
came forward at our public meeting, after he had 
heard Mr. Knibb and Mr. Thompson of the Anti- 
Slavery Society, and declared himself fully in favour 
of immediate emancipation. This part of the world 
seems all alive upon the subject." 

In November Mr. Carey and Mr. Knibb went 
together to Scotland. Mr. Carey's first letter is 
addressed to his son : — 



LETTEE TO HIS SON. 



467 



"Inverness, Nov. 23rd. — Circumstances, uncontrol- 
lable by me, have induced a delay in writing to you 
much longer, indeed, than I could have desired. Such 
occurrences may every now and then be expected in 
a course of incessant movement, such as that to which 
God has called me these few past years. But I bless 
his name that they have happened to me so rarely. 
I felt some trifling indisposition last week. Five 
days' engagements, besides the previous LordVday, 
and successive change, rather increased my uneasi- 
ness. But the principal thing against me was that I 
took a slight cold, which flew to my head and teeth. 
I with great difficulty got through my work on 
Sabbath; and on my return home, from the afternoon 
service, I was, as might be expected, much worse, and 
some degree of fever ensued ; but leeching and fomen- 
tation, and good medical attentions and kind nursing, 
and the blessing of a merciful God upon all, have 
brought me now, after five days, into comfort. I am 
at this moment free from all pain and distress of 
every kind. I am weak, as might be supposed, 
and a prisoner in my room ; but with care I have 
no reason to doubt of being able to leave this on 
Monday next. Thus I shall have been laid up one 
week, and detained from some few engagements — 
a very swift recovery, and attended with many mer- 
cies. c Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is 
within me bless his holy name/ I am sure you will 

H H 2 



468 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



unite with me in praising our Father in heaven on 
my behalf. 

" Dismiss every anxiety about me : I am always in 
the best of keeping. ' The Lord is my keeper. He 
is my shade upon my right hand/ glory be to his 
holy name ! ' I was brought low, and he helped 
me/ Always remember, too, that wherever I may be 
in this good work, I am sure to be in the midst of 
the best of people the world contains. How different 
it was with Him, 6 who had not where to lay his head/ 
from whom, though the earth was not worthy that 
the sole of his foot should tread upon its surface, 
' men kid their faces! Respecting your joining the 
churchy I must leave the time to you and the dear 
Christian people who may, at the instance of their 
minister, consent to receive you. If you are conscious 
of your own sincere faith in Jesus, and your perfect 
willingness to subject your life to his laws ; and if 
those who know you best have no objection to make 
as to your sincerity, you cannot be premature in 
making the profession of what you feel yourself to be, 
and what you desire to become. I would not wish 
you to defer on my account, my return being uncer- 
tain. I have no hope of seeing you before January/'' 

TO MR. DYE 11. 

"Edinburgh, Dec. 3, 1832.— When we first arrived 
in Edinburgh, Mr. Knibb and myself attended the 
Committee of the Bible Society, when a vote for £100 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



469 



to the Calcutta Bengalee version of the New Testa- 
ment was passed. At a subsequent meeting Mr. C. 
Anderson applied for and obtained a grant of £300 
for the general fund for translations at Serampore, pro- 
curing, at the same time, the insertion upon the 
records of the Society, of a minute, discouraging, as you 
will see, the further application for any versions into 
any language into which the Serampore missionaries 
may ever have commenced to translate. 

" It is matter of justice, and, in my apprehension, 
of great importance, to obtain the cancelling of such 
a scandalous resolution, and frustrating the wily, 
crooked, abominable policy which procured and 
advised it. It appears to me that the minute is alto- 
gether so unjust, and withal so comprehensive, that 
upon fair representation the Committee will be pre- 
vailed on to alter or rescind it. 

cc Last week I went to the Society's rooms, by the 
advice of Mr. Dickie, to offer explanations ; but the 
Committee were too full of business to enter again 
into the matter at that time. 

" I then thought it proper to memorialize them ; 
and I enclose the substance of what I thought of 
forwarding to the Edinburgh Bible Committee on 
the subject." 

In reference to the excitement produced in Edin- 
burgh by Mr. KnibVs urgent appeals on behalf of 
the slaves, Mr. Carey writes : — 

"I have witnessed congregated masses in that 



470 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



city, burning and almost raving with indignation 
at the system, as he depicted its cruelties and 
demonstrated its crimes. His tact and his self-pos- 
session in a little time became so remarkable, that he 
would easily convert adverse and startling occurrences 
into an occasion of profit and even of triumph to his 
cause."*" 

""Dec. 22, 1832. — I lose no time in forwarding a 
bill of exchange for eighty pounds. My desire was to 
have sent a hundred, but my opportunity for getting 
money had terminated until my companion joined me, 
and we proceeded to the west. I determined not to 
write about engagements until I saw him, that no 
further disappointment might occur. I much fear the 
coming Sabbath will prove a lost one to the Mission, 
through want of time to make needful arrangements. 

" I sensibly feel the length of this journey. It is 
mainly attributable to the interest felt in the anti- 
slavery cause, the desire in different places for 
double meetings on that account, and the impossi- 
bility we feel in tlrwarting the wishes of our best 
friends without incurring prejudice to the general 
interests of our Mission in future. It has certainly 
had the effect of making the Mission more generally 
known than it would otherwise have been, and rather 
beyond the limits of our own denomination ; and by 

* Eor an amusing incident which Mr. Carey gives in confirma- 
tion, see Life of William Knibb, by Rev. H. Hinton. 



DEPTJ TATION AL WOEK. 



471 



bringing forward the claims of the West Indies into 
striking prominence, it gives our Society a new and 
additional hold of the public mind, and with the 
great advantage of helping the East Indian contro- 
versy a step nearer to its merited oblivion. 

" Still my opinion has been, and I have clearly ex- 
pressed it, that the anti-slavery friends, availing 
themselves to so great a degree of the services of the 
deputation of the Baptist Missionary Society for 
their own more special design, should have contributed 
to the funds or borne some part of our expenses. But 
their worthy president spoke out so audibly and so 
earnestly about a debt against their Society of some 
sixty pounds, that you would almost have thought 
the whole body were trembling upon the very brink 
of a dreadful insolvency. To say more than I have 
said, I believe, would have proved unacceptable. 

u Edinburgh, Jan. 18, 1833. — We arrived here last 
evening from Glasgow, having been present there the 
evening preceding at one of the most interesting 
meetings I ever witnessed, at which very strong reso- 
lutions and a petition were passed upon the slavery 
question. 

"We are about proceeding just now to hold 
another meeting in this city, principally to afford 
Mr. Knibb an additional opportunity of increasing his 
details and strengthening some previously given.' ; 

Mr. Carey and his friend parted for the next week, 



472 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



and met again at Newcastle, to spend there as much 
time as they could afford, because they wished to be 
" at Leeds the first Sabbath in February. We then 
proceed to Sheffield, and thence farther south as fast 
as we can. 

" I hope the order for £200, forwarded from Glasgow 
a day or two ago, will have reached you safely/ 5 

Mr. Carey then requests a tabular view of the 
stations in India and the West Indies, names of mis- 
sionaries, how many chapels were destroyed, &c, may 
be forwarded to Edinburgh, with collecting books, 
adding, " The iron must be struck now that it is hot. 
The Heralds must be double in number, that the 
matter may live before their eye." 

TO ME. DYER. 

"Leamington, March, 1833. — In your notice of 
the proceedings of our recent journey through Scot- 
land, it will greatly oblige my colleague and myself 
if at the same time you would record our grateful 
sense of the kindness we personally experienced, and 
of the liberality evinced towards our object in every 
place where our steps were directed. This is the 
more imperatively demanded from ourselves and our 
Society from the fact that, though our own friends 
were everywhere liberal according to their number 
and their means, it was to the countenance and con- 
tributions of ministers and brethren of other denomi- 
nations that our success was mainly attributable. At 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 473 

a period when the objects of general and of Christian 
benevolence are so greatly multiplied, and when each 
denomination has strongly urged upon it its own 
specific claims, it is matter of devout and grateful 
reflection that all should so readily sympathise with 
the afflictions and so promptly listen to the appeals 
of a distinct though kindred Institution. 

cc And whilst sensible of the pecuniary aid thus 
realized to the exhausted resources of our Society, it 
may be hoped that such assistance may prove to be 
the least important result of the journey. During 
the several years I have travelled for the Society, I 
have never seen a succession of such meetings as those 
which have been h olden in Scotland and the northern 
counties. The number in attendance was frequently 
overwhelming, and the interest evinced while my 
companions detailed the previous successes of the 
Western Mission, and described its late unexampled 
calamities, was such as to surpass description. I 
cannot but hope that such recitals of the woes which 
unoffending thousands have endured and are still 
enduring, will prove to have awakened a sympathy 
for the oppressed which will never expire until the 
wrongs be redressed, and an indignation against the 
system which has inflicted them, the force of which 
shall prove immitigable, until it and all its cruel 
atrocities terminate. 

" Whitehaven, March 30. — I have spent an un- 
happy week, the weather has been cold and dreary to 



474 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 

a degree quite equal to anything I experienced in the 
depth of winter. In almost every place we have visited, 
I have been necessitated, through the cold, to remain 
in the same room with the family and the company, 
there being no escape but the street. Some Christian 
brethren smoked all through the day, or nearly so, so 
that I longed for the evening to come. I heartily 
wish there was an Act of Parliament against this ugly, 
irksome practice. To-day I have turned my back 
upon it, and have come under the roof of reasonable 
creatures. My engagements here will terminate in 
the beginning of the coming week. I think of re- 
maining one day, if I find it practicable, in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Lakes, and hope to be with you on 
Thursday. On the Tuesday following I must bid 
you farewell again, take my dear Annie in my hand 
to Leicester and to town, reserving time sufficient to 
reach Biggleswade, in Bedfordshire, the second Sab- 
bath in April, where a succession of services for the 
Mission is arranged." 

TO A FRIEND. 

"Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Aug. 20, 1833. — 
I had a book in reading when last at Wincobank, the 
first volume of Keith on the Prophecies. Has it been 
seen by any one of my friends, and if so, could I beg 
the favour of a parcel being made of it, and its being 
addressed for me to Chesterfield by coach ? It is a 



DEPUTATIONAL WORK. 



475 



borrowed book, as you will see. But were it not so, 
yet the mortification and self-reproach which I feel 
when anything is lost by me, is such that I have no 
comfort until I recover it ; and I would sooner incur 
any reasonable expense of carriage than endure the 
punishment I inflict upon myself for my carelessness. 
I am naturally volatile and remiss, and being painfully 
conscious of the humiliating fact, for these several 
years I have been disciplining myself to habits of 
thought and some degree of regularity ; when I fail, 
therefore, I suffer both in pride and pocket, and the 
distasteful conviction presses itself upon me that my 
failings are incurable. I find it no easy thing, even 
in the light affairs of this life, to live upon any very 
fair terms with myself, and alas ! how much more so 
as to the higher interests of the soul and eternity." 

ADDRESSED TO HIS SON. 

"Wineobank,May 20. — Endeavour, my beloved son, 
to derive your daily comfort and solace in obedience to 
God, and communion with Him in the common, every- 
day business of life. The benevolent Lord is not so 
shy of our converse as to restrain it to certain times, 
or circumstances and occasions ; but graciously wel- 
comes it alike everywhere and in every possible situa- 
tion in which we can be placed. 

" In your religious duties, I trust you will always 
find your highest earthly satisfaction. Whatever dis- 



476 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



qualifies for them should he viewed with suspicion ; 
whatever imparts spirit and pleasure to us in their 
fulfilment is profitable. And this is one commenda- 
tion^ though I grant but a secondary one, of the 
duties of piety, that they are the highest and readiest 
qualification for the right discharge of all others. 

" For when all things o-o on well within us. and 
our intercourse with God is regular, vital, and solemn, 
then the mind addresses itself with becoming spirit 
and energy to every subordinate pursuit ; and so great 
a consistency is there in the system of truth and 
duty, that we cannot neglect the engagements due to 
men without impairing our comfort and destroying 
our confidence in attempting the discharge of those 
which are due to God; much less can we, in neglect- 
ing the exercises of devotion, anticipate satisfaction or 
success in the interests and engagements of common 
life. Godliness looks well to both worlds, to body 
and soul, to time and eternity; keeping all things in 
their right place, making us live to God — that is, 
with a constant deference to his Will and desire for 
his glory; it wonderfully simplifies our desires and 
our aims, inspires the soul with one master-principle 
for action, quiets a thousand clamorous, tormenting 
passions, and resolves all our anxieties in this, that 
Christ and heaven maybe ours. My dearest William, 
press after God; watch for him 'more than they who 
watch for the morning — more, I say, than they that 
watch for the morning/ Take care of sinful passions, 



LETTERS TO HIS SOX. 



477 



of all ensnaring desires, such as may derange the 
affections, unhinge the mind, and thrust it back from 
God. Seek to be as much alone as you may con- 
veniently with the duties of your station ; and as your 
opportunities for reading must now be limited, let 
your private reading be specially religious. If, for a 
season, your only reading were the Scriptures, in 
English and Greek, taking care to ponder well what 
you read, and turn it into prayer, that it may nourish 
the heart, it would be none the worse. Take care and 
honour your Redeemer by believing his perfect wil- 
lingness and infinite power to save. 

" Take care you do not become as miserable a cor- 
respondent as your father. It is easy to distaste 
letter- writing; but you must watch against a tempta- 
tion, which, if yielded to, will wound friendship, be 
attended with a loss to yourself of much of the comfort 
of social life ; and, now that I am upon this subject, 
I would impress upon you the importance of improv- 
ing, as much as possible, your handwriting, which, in 
after-life, will vastly add to your pleasure in the exer- 
cise, as well as contribute greatly to your respectability 
in common business. Get some good sample of 
writing, and keep it by you when you write, that 
you may gradually imitate it. 

" Seek, my beloved William, to maintain a right 
state of heart towards God. Let our beloved, and 
tender-hearted, and almighty Saviour be continually 
invoked by you ; send up hundreds of short petitions 



478 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



to him, fresh from the heart, daily, so that his Word 
and his blessed Spirit may be daily, and hourly, and 
momentarily present for your aid and your solace." 

This year Mr. Carey had the pleasure of meeting in 
this country his companion and most beloved friend, 
Mr. James Penney. They had the high gratification 
of meeting each other on missionary platforms, and of 
having much social intercourse together. They met 
frequently at the house of Mrs. Hobson, Boxmoor. 
So imperceptibly, when together, did their time slip 
away, that once the morning broke in upon them 
before they separated. Here Mr. Penney often in- 
dulged in his old strain of cheerful pleasantry when 
with Mr. Carey. He was heard to say: — " Eustace, 
why do you, in your speeches, use so many half-crown 
words, when I use those which are only worth two- 
pence halfpenny." They also made great merriment 
with the following incident : — 

Before Mr. Carey's last illness in Calcutta, Captain 

presented him with several volumes of a valuable 

work, and wrote on a slip of paper the following 
sentence : — u These books are presented to the Rev. 

Eustace Carey by , and after his disease they are 

to become the property of Mr. James Penney." The 
bad orthography caught the eye of Mr. Carey's 
humorous friend. After his recovery, he came, and 
most assuredly claimed the books as his property, 
and took them away for good. 



FRIENDSHIP WITH ME. DYER. 



479 



In the spring of 1834 Mr. Carey married again. 
Just before doing so, he made proposals to the Society 
to relinquish his engagement with it, intending, if 
medical opinion were unfavourable to a residence in 
India, to fulfil his half promise to return to his friends 
at Boston in America. But the Committee renewed 
their invitation to him to continue his itinerancy in 
such terms that this intention was overruled. 

After nine years of almost incessant change, he 
found a permanent home for himself and family in 
Camberwell-grove. In June of this year Dr. Carey 
fell asleep in Jesus. Soon after this event, at the 
express invitation of the Committee, Mr. Carey wrote 
the Life of his venerated uncle. It was published in 
1836. 

There was one circumstance which yielded to Mr. 
Carey, in the relation which he sustained to the 
Missionary Society, great pleasure and consolation — 
this was the fervent and ever unbroken friendship 
which existed between himself and the Secretary of 
the Society, the Rev. John Dyer. Their correspon- 
dence was of the most fraternal kind, and their inter- 
course was unmixed with one annoying or corroding 
occurrence. When he who travelled with his pen at 
home, urged him beyond endurance, who journeyed 
with his feet abroad, it was the cause of much 
pleasantry. They were always the same to each 
other, and well suited in the unselfishness and 



480 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



earnestness which they displayed in consulting the 
advancement of the great cause which they both 
served. To Mr. Dyer's marked urbanity, devoutness, 
and Christian selectness, Mr. Carey often bore testi- 
mony. As Mr. Carey's own personal friendships 
were few, so they were those which were never suffered 
to be broken, but to which his memory clave in the 
tenderest affection. 4 Such was his remembrance of 
his friend Mr. Dyer. 

TO MR. DYER. 

" Kyde, April, 1834. — At Exeter and Taunton we 
had good missionary meetings. It was also pretty 
fair at Exeter, considering that we had not the assist- 
ance of a single minister of the place. Exeter is a 
miserable place for religious influence. There does 
not appear to be a single religious body in a pros- 
perous condition. There seems every variety and 
extreme of sentiment, but no healthy, vigorous action 
in any one connexion. Mr. Mason's interest seems 
the most promising. He is a most devoted, faithful 
minister, and a very holy and lovely man. Our 
denomination, but for the blessing of God on his 
labours, would at this moment have been all but. 
extinct. When I reflect upon the dissenting interests 
generally throughout the kingdom, I am surprised at 
the slow progress of the Gospel among them. I 
can see many minor circumstances that mar the 



ILLNESS AT^ LIVERPOOL. 481 



beauty of religious life generally, and impair and 
lessen the influence of public exercises in a considerable 
degree, as it strikes me at least ; but whilst ministers 
are generally faithful, and their efforts are made 
agreeably to the will of God, as far as we can judge, 
how it should yet come to pass that such limited 
results are realized from their labours is worthy of 
serious inquiry. Some of these lesser evils in the 
external economy of things I have sometimes thought 
might be pointed out with some possible advantage, 
and without giving offence to any one ; and this done, 
graver topics might become the subjects of just adver- 
tence and temperate animadversion. Those who are 
accustomed to composition for the magazines might, 
if they were discreet and delicate in their style of 
address, do real service to the Christian world." 

In July, 1834, Mr. Carey visited Lancashire for 
the Mission. When at Liverpool he was taken very 
ill at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Jones. Here 
he shared the kindness, the unwearied attention, not 
to say hospitality, which such friends know so well 
how to render. 

He thus writes to Mrs. Carey, by the kind help of 
his friend as amanuensis : — 

"I trust my former communication reached you, 
and that you have united your thanksgiving with 
mine for the tender mercies of God. Those mercies 
are yet following me, and I trust by their continuance 

1 1 



482 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



I may in due time be restored to you and the society 
of my dear children. I wish both to hope and quietly 
to wait for the salvation of the Lord. It would be 
easy to increase my anxiety, and so thwart the mer- 
ciful designs of God in my recovery. I endeavour, 
therefore, to calm my spirit and prevent the luxurious- 
ness of my own desires by filial affection to his 
authority, 'who knoweth our frame, and remembereth 
that we are dust/ I have lost very much, if not 
altogether, my former pains ; but they are succeeded 
with such a sense of weakness as makes me feel in- 
competent to almost the slightest effort. I think it 
desirable to say, that you should not think on any 
account of leaving your home in quest of me." 

At the house of these friends Mr. Carey had all the 
comforts of his own home. After a season of partial 
delirium, he found his wife by his bedside in this house 
of mercy, to whom he says, when she is brought to 
him by his kind host, " it is too good to be true." 
Such exhibitions of kindness as these from his 
friends, Mr. Carey never forgot. He had, in the 
course of his journeyings, several of a like kind; but 
none to his mind attended with more grateful 
memory. 

As soon as he was sufficiently recovered to be 
removed, another friend's house in the suburbs of 
Liverpool was opened to him. It was at the house 
of Mr. and Mrs. Laing, in their company and that 



LETTER ON INDIA. 



483 



of their kind daughter, that Mr. and Mrs. Carey 
spent the 1st of August, 1834. Thankfully did Mr. 
Carey employ his little strength in giving an address 
at one of the numerous meetings in Liverpool for 
prayer and thanksgiving on behalf of the slaves. 

Mr. Carey returned to town by slow stages. He 
spent a few days at Tewkesbury, and then went to 
Nailsworth; at both these places he met with the 
kindest attention. Here, unhappily, he took cold, 
and was much indisposed at Leamington, where he 
next stopped. He writes to Mr. Dyer : — 

cc Had it been practicable to have borne the motion 
of a coach, we should have been at Northampton, if not 
Camberwell, this day. My great solace in this long 
illness is in viewing it as matter of Divine, I believe 
gracious appointment. The experience which we 
have had of the kindness of Christian friends has 
been such as alone to compensate for the affliction 
allotted us. 

" I am almost tired of attempting to do anything 
at Bath. There should be, in connexion with Bris- 
tol or Frome, a train of services reaching to Bath, 
Paulton, &c. Exeter should connect Torquay, Painton, 
Newton, &c. If we are spared to another year, we 
must try what can be done." 

After alluding to an extract which he had read 
referring to India, he writes : — 

" I am fully persuaded the extract is worth the 
112 



484 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



attention of the Committee. Allahabad will become 
as important to Upper Hindostan as Calcutta is to 
Bengal. Moreover, some change of agency and some 
augmentation of labour will be perceived necessarv 
for the India Mission, if we intend to prosecute it 
successfully, and in such a manner as to command 
public interest. It is a most distressing fact, and 
that which must infallibly affect the interests of 
the Society too, that these brethren do not supply 
of interesting detail enough matter to occupy two 
pages of letterpress in a whole year ! This cannot 
continue; I am constrained to say it ought not to 
continue." 

On the need of Improvement in Missionary Intelligence. 

TO ME. DYER. 

"Lincoln, Sept. — I deeply feel the subject of your 
complaint respecting the East. The matter has 
pressed upon my spirits for these six or seven years. 

" All my power to plead for the Society has been 
derived from I know not what — my own experience 
and trifling recollections when abroad, increased only 
by now and then a sentence or incident, one perhaps 
in a whole year, gathered from the reports of ten or 
more brethren. I am sure they all of them work 
hard, but then they report too generally and with 
too little spirit — too little attention to fact, incident, 
and narrative. 



VISIT TO WALES. 



485 



ce Then, again, there is too little affection and inti- 
macy between the Society and their brethren abroad. 
No one writes to any one either in the East or the 
West but yourself, and your communications must of 
necessity abound with economical detail and resolu- 
tions upon general and important topics. 

" All the thrilling, penetrating influence, therefore, 
which the play of the social feelings and the native 
glow of human hearts alone can supply, is absent, and 
the outlay of hundreds of pounds, and the results of a 
thousand sermons and missionary addresses are reduced 
to a single page of dry abstract, by which we are nei- 
ther much informed nor much comforted. But how 
can this be remedied ? is a question too grave for 
me to solve. Yet I am far from deeming it inso- 
luble. It is certainly worthy of some attention, nor 
should the consideration be long delayed. 

" Glamorganshire. — I am getting through with 
this somewhat dreary journey, never very acceptable 
to an Englishman, but especially far otherwise at this 
advanced period of the year. Might it not be advan- 
tageous to the Society's interests if a respectable 
brother could be procured in the Principality to make 
a visit to all the churches (many small ones being 
now passed over), inform them, collect money, &c. 
This has been suggested in the journey with accept- 
ance. Who he should be, how and by whom his 
labours should be directed, or whether it should be 



486 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



devolved upon one, or whether several in different 
parts should be looked to in succession, and what 
should be the mode and degree of remuneration, are 
grave questions ; but if the propriety of resorting to 
such agency be evident, other things may be expected 
in due time to adjust themselves. 

"I shall trust when this journey is ended to go into 
winter quarters. Two or three spare Sabbaths I re- 
quire to discharge friendly engagements into which I 
have entered indefinitely, but which begin to press 
upon my conscience somewhat. If, after the pressure 
of this year's labour is over, you can so contrive in 
future as generally to acquaint me with the arrange- 
ments, i.e., so far as I am concerned, when in projec- 
tion, that I maybe able occasionally to make some slight 
election of times, and scenes, and amount of labour, when 
it can be done coincidently with the will of the parties 
amongst w^hom the service is rendered, and with the 
public interest, and that I may know what is before 
me at the earliest convenience, it would greatly add 
to my comfort. It cannot at all times be done, I am 
convinced, and it is far from me to entertain the desire 
to lessen the efficiency, or to perplex in any manner 
the details of public labour, for the success of which 
we are both, I trust, equally anxious ; nor would I 
knowingly add one fraction to the burden of your 
office. 

u I have every confidence that you will do whatever 



LINCOLNSHIRE, ETC. 



487 



wisdom and kindness can effect in combining* indi- 
vidual convenience with public benefit." 

"Lincoln, Sept. 18, 1835. — Our series of meetings in 
the East Riding are now terminated, the last of them 
being holden at Grimsby. I had fourteen services in 
eleven days, and at the public meetings spoke at 
greater length than is my custom ordinarily ; so that 
between preaching, and speaking, and company — which 
is the least profitable of all the calls upon me in this 
work, though often the most expensive in the time it 
requires — I begin to cry out for rest. To-day and 
to-morrow I have that privilege, but my brother 
Crapps has published me for three sermons on the 
coming Sabbath ; a public meeting on Monday, of 
course, and Horncastle, Louth, &c, succeed. 

" Next Sabbath week I hope to be at Boston, and 
Spalding meetings will follow. 

" Mr. Ackworth, of Leeds, has been most agreeable, 
and very efficient in the help he has given us." 

On a proposition which had been made that the 
deputations for the Serampore and Calcutta Missions 
should unite their labours, and which had been nega- 
tived by the Committee, Mr. Carey says : — 

" I think the Committee had no other course they 
could adopt with safety to the Mission ; though, at 
the same time, I am fully alive to the possible, nay 
the certain inconvenience it involves at present. The 
moment we allow ourselves in this joint agency we 



488 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



may prepare for consequences the most serious. It 
will be converted into a precedent — will be instantly- 
recorded in numerous periodicals — and one single act, 
though well designed in those who have advised it, 
will within a very few months shake the integrity, 
and materially lessen the resources of the Society to 
the extremities of the empire. 

" Though we do little, we had better pursue our 
course simply, with our objects clear and our econo- 
mical details unembarrassed. 

" Union is good, but it is not always within our 
reach; and there are letter things in the moral creation 
than it. 

" To return to our work. I am obliged to spend 
one Sabbath here, take Horncastle and Louth after 
the Lincoln meeting, and Boston and Spalding the 
Sabbath and Monday following — perhaps Tuesday 
may be required. I must then go to my family, 
spend a few days with them, and bring them home. 
You cannot, I fear, calculate upon me for work in 
the east counties before the second Sabbath in 
October. Then, my advice would be, that Suffolk, 
Huntingdon, &c, occupy me through the remaining 
part of October, and that we take November for 
Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield, &c." 

" Liverpool, Sept. 1836. — We have had better 
meetings here than I ever witnessed; but to many 
people to give their money in Liverpool is not easy. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



489 



When I think of the heavy drafts from Jamaica, 
which appear to me to increase instead of diminish, 
and the imperative pressing claims of the East, 
so long all but neglected, my heart almost sinks 
within me," 



CHAP. XVII. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

" Thus would I, at tins parting hour, be true 
To teachings which to me have priceless been : 
Thus would I, like a just departing child, 
Who lingers on the threshold of his home, 
Strive, with vague murmurings and lingering looks, 
To store up what were sweetest to recall. 55 

In the year 1837 Mr. Carey welcomed in England 
his beloved friend and fellow-labourer, the Rev. 
W. H. Pearce, from Calcutta. They had the plea- 
sure this year of meeting on the platform of the 
Baptist Missionary Society, at its annual meeting, 
held in Finsbury Chapel. Mr. Pearce was in weak 
health, and incapable of speaking, except a very few 
words ; and, in attempting to utter these, he sank 
down on the platform in great exhaustion, and re- 
quested Mr. Carey to take up the subject, and con- 
tinue his speech upon India. The scene which now 
took place, and the address which followed, are 
among the most interesting and remarkable which 
were ever witnessed at the meeting of this Society. 
Mr. Carey rose perfectly unprepared (for he was to 



MEETING WITH MR. PEARCE. 



491 



peak for his friend), and made a speech which, for 
the power of its pathos, and the effect which it 
produced on the audience, baffles description. It 
appeared as if the sight of his friend from India, 
the recollection of their united labours there, the 
success with which God had blessed them, the scenes 
of trial through which they had passed together, of 
the beloved Lawson gone to glory, of Mr. Pearce, as 
"the son of the seraphic Samuel Pearce," of the 
commencement of the Mission work at home in the 
dark days of 1792, the warm and growing hope which 
he entertained for India's deliverance from idolatry and 
ignorance, — all these, and the fact that they were now 
together on the platform of their own Society, rushed 
like the deep waters over his mind, from whence they 
were driven, as from a many-sided, many-cornered sub- 
stance, forming the most beautiful flowing fountains 
of the lightest and most dewy showers. While Mr. 
Carey was speaking in a rapture of his friend, and 
of his work at Calcutta, he was standing on the plat- 
form near to Mr. Pearce. Stopping short for a 
moment, he jumped out of his reach upon the table, 
and said to the audience, " I must get out of the 
way of my brother here, who keeps pinching me." 

During Mr. Carey's rapid and most thrilling 
appeal, while telling of India's woes, and of the sor- 
rows of those who hasten after another god, there 
were very few in that assembly whose eyes refrained 



492 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



from tears. The deep emotion which he felt himself, 
and also that of his friend Mr. Pearce, added much 
to the effect. Of this speech there is no report ; but 
it lives on the hearts of those who heard it. To many 
it was a season of refreshing from the presence of the 
Lord, and its effects were not soon dissipated. Mr. 
Pearce afterwards said to the writer that " Mr. 
Carey's speech had half killed him/' 

In the autumn of 1838 Mr. and Mrs. Carey 
changed their residence from Camberwell to Mar- 
io wes, near Hemel Hempstead. This change was 
sought on account of Mrs. Carey's health; for although 
fond of fields and flowers, Mr. Carey had no love for 
a country residence. His journeys and work were con- 
tinued with little cessation at this time, and his health 
was now perfectly restored. Instead of the pale, 
attenuated frame, he now assumed one of robust and 
healthy vigour. 

On an earlier page of this history, when parting 
with some with whom we had become agreeably 
acquainted, it was said, "We shall meet again." 
Yes, truly ; for here Mr. Carey and his family were 
within a few minutes' walk of the residence of his 
aunts, who had been the friends of his childhood and 
youth, both of whom were living at Boxmoor. 

It was a little remarkable, that as these kind rela- 
tions had cheered Mr. Carey's first entrance into 
life, and had often made his boy's heart to bound 
with joy, so now he is to cheer their last days, to 



RESIDENCE AT MARLOWES. 



493 



minister to their comfort, and to watch the last scene 
of their life on earth. Such is Providence ! 

Mrs. M. Carey was still upheld. In January, 1839, 
she wrote to one of Mr. Carey's family — "I am 
still spared to enter on a new year. Much weakness, 
but much mercy still mixed with it." Three years 
beyond this time it pleased God to lengthen out 
her life. But now she had nearly completed her 
life's duty of suffering. She had done it well ; not 
as some professing Christians do their work, 
grudgingly, or of necessity, because they profess to 
be Christians ; but she submitted heartily, joyously, 
and sometimes with the full bound and elasticity of 
youthful life and health. She was invariably cheerful. 
The writer can now see her countenance as it shone, 
and, like a sunbeam, darted across the room whenever 
her door was opened by any member of her family. 

The room of the invalid now becomes almost the 
daily resort of some part of Mr. Carey's family. When 
he returned from his journeys, his first visit was 
made to his aunts. By his own children she was still 
called, as by himself in early childhood, " poor aunt *" 
and to these she was ever an object of the greatest 
affection. No flower was thought so beautiful as that 
which she presented to them; no piece of cake half so 
delicious. The manner in which she laid her hand on 
the head, and offered her silent benediction was most 
impressive ; and as no word could be uttered by her, 
there was tenfold more in the look and manner. For, 



494 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



u Not only hath 
Their passive meekness a still voice of power, 
But e'en their feeblest words or speechless signs 
Have active might. 35 

Then she would take her slate and write down some 
sentence of comfort or gratulation to her visitors. 
If they were children, she addressed to them some 
pleasant question or remark, as when she taught her 
nephew in the days of her comparative youth, 

Besides these pleasant interviews, many were the 
precious meetings for prayer and thanksgiving which 
were enjoyed in her room. To some of these there 
was added frequently another service, which was most 
impressive and delightful. This servant of Christ 
who had lived so long without enjoying the public 
means of grace, here met with some of Mr. Carey's 
family and a few of the members of the church at 
Boxmoor around the table of the Lord. This was a 
spiritual refreshment and solace to the afflicted saint. 
Thus she remembered her Lord, and with the uni- 
versal Church she did " show forth His death till He 
come." Mr. Carey sometimes conducted this service. 

These were hallowed hours; they are still in re- 
membrance, and are solemn and impressive. The 
Saviour, the loved object of their hope and their 
worship, was present in the breaking of bread ; and 
the two or three met in his name ; — each one of this 
small company could say with the afflicted saint, in 
the lines of one of her favourite hymns, 



RENEWED INTERCOURSE WITH HIS AUNTS. 495 

" Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, 
Which before the cross I spend." 

Here, in her little room, so still and tranquil, each 
one folded away his and her cares for a time ; and, in 
an ecstasy of earnest longing, exclaimed, " My soul 
thirsteth for God — for the living God;" here, apart 
from the bustle and carking care of the world, from 
its luxuries and its grandeur, were found " the house 
of God and the gate of heaven ; n and when all was 
hushed but the voice of prayer, the hymn of praise, 
and the reading of the words of Jesus while he was 
yet with them, 66 came J esus, the doors being shut, 
and said to these waiting ones, r Peace be unto you/ n 
This saint, now on the confines of heaven, oh ! with 
what calm delight did she unite in heart, although 
speechless, as the words of Montgomery's hymn 
flowed in simple yet " sweetest harmony" from the 
lips of those present. There, in the stillness of the 
evening, the bleak Moor, and yet bleaker world 
without, as the words died away, 

" Gethsemane, can I forget, 
Or there thy conflict see, 
Thine agony and bloody sweat, 
And not remember thee ! 3 ' 

it seemed as if some of those present were going with 
Him, their Lord, to prison and to death. 

But, in singing the last verse, it was a blessed 
sight. With delight did this aged saint drink in the 
sublime truth which the words contained ! To Mr. 



496 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Carey, as well as to herself, these seasons brought 
back thoughts of Cottisbrook, where the Scripture 
lessons were given from such a warm heart ; the spot 
where the first youthful prayer was uttered, the first 
youthful vow, and the first sermon. From the very 
same Bible which first attracted his notice, as a boy, 
he read the sacred portion. These all came rushing on 
the mind in the quick succession of thought. But, in 
the case of the afflicted one, with what an unmeasured 
fulness of joy, with what rich experience of the 
goodness and faithfulness of God, with what unwea- 
ried aspiration after Him whom her soul loved, and 
with what a foretaste of the joys of glory and immor- 
tality her thought of the past years now came ! 

These were hours of the Son of Man upon the 
earth ; hours when, if his religion were a conceit of 
the human mind — a mere fable — it was that which 
no reality on earth ever equalled in the least degree in 
power and worth ! But the time came that she must 
die, and drink no more of the fruit of the vine until 
she should drink it new with her Saviour in heaven. 
The closing scene was beautiful ; she was calm > 
patient, unmoved as a sea of glass ; she was in heaven 
talking with some of her friends in glory some hours 
before she really quitted the body. Some young- 
people came into the room, who were under religious 
impression. With what joy she listened to their 
broken accents, and gave them her last blessing ; for 
she had long taken the inquirer's class at Boxmoor, 



DEATH OF MRS. M. CAREY. 



497 



and she knew well the heart of the lambs of Jesus' 
fold, and how to speak to them in the tenderest 
language. 

What was very remarkable, Mrs. M. Carey regained 
her speech for a short time before she died. The 
strange effect which the sound of her voice produced 
on those who were about her sick-bed can be scarcely 
conceived. It was like a voice from the grave of one 
who had been buried for many years, or from another 
world. Amongst other things, she said : ce It will be 
better for me to be gone; but I wish to wait the 
Lord's time; I hope I have not deceived myself." 
To the writer, on entering her room, she exclaimed, 
in an ecstasy of joy, " A free and a full salvation V 

And now, as, through God's grace, through her 
vital hold on Christ — the Man of Sorrows — she had 
looked pain into meek submissiveness, so now God 

ft Looks her out of pain, 
And one aspect of his spends in delight, 
More than a thousand suns disburse in light 
In heaven above !" 

In January, 1842, her emancipated spirit found life 
in death. To think of the ecstasy of her ravished 
soul, when released from a body whose natural powers 
liad been paralysed for fifty years, and when clothed 
with immortality — 

" Every power found sweet employ 
In that eternal world of joy." 

K K 



498 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Mr. Carey followed the remains of this his beloved 
relative to the grave. In the chapel burial-ground at 
Boxmoor are placed the graves of herself and her 
sister, Mrs. Hobson. The latter died in March, 1843. 
Worthy sisters were they of so noble and distin- 
guished a brother, and, taking part with him as they 
did in turning many to righteousness, they shall with 
him " shine as the stars for ever and ever. They rest, 
and shall stand in their lot at the end of the days." 

It is no small gratification to the writer to bear 
this testimony, brief and imperfect as it is, to their 
worth and excellence. May it be the means of com- 
forting some one reader in affliction, or of inducing 
some one other to follow their faith, " considering 
the end of their conversation, J esus Christ, the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 

At the annual meeting of this year, 1839, Mr. 
Carey spoke again for his friend Mr. Pearce. On the 
very morning of the meeting tidings reached them of 
the sudden death of their friend Mr. Penney, by 
cholera. This event cast considerable gloom on the 
meeting, and was the occasion of much sorrow to the 
missionaries. But Mr. Penney evinced all that 
Christian courage at the sight of the formidable 
enemy, death, for which he was so remarkable in life. 
To Mr. Carey this was a painful bereavement ; and 
thus he mourned for his friend : — " I am distressed 
for thee, my brother Jonathan ! Very pleasant hast 



DEATH OF MR. PENNEY. 



499 



thou been to me. Thou wast slain in thy high 
places." 

In 1840 the Committee of the Baptist Missionary- 
Society invited Mr. Carey to become a delegate 
from them to the Churches in Jamaica. Mr. Dyer, 
in sending him this resolution, added — " May God 
direct you in this important matter, as he has done 
hitherto, my dear brother." The following para- 
graphs are taken from the reply which Mr. Carey 
sent to the Committee in reference to this subject : — 

€t I have much and seriously considered your reso- 
lution of the 4th inst., inviting me to visit the mis- 
sionary stations in Jamaica. I confess that I have 
long felt the desire of witnessing the grace of God 
so richly distinguishing that sphere of our labours, 
believing that a personal inspection of it might con- 
tribute to a successful advocacy of the claims of the 
Mission before the Christian public in future years. 

" But it appears to me that so great an amount of 
important and appropriate information has been sup- 
plied, and so great an impulse given to the public 
mind, by the recent visit of Mr. Knibb and Mr. 
Clark, as to supersede the desirableness of a deputa- 
tional visit, at least for the present, and to render it 
doubtful whether the advantages accruing from it 
would countervail the expenses it would necessitate. 

" Secondly, I cannot resist the conviction that, were 
the Committee to defer their design until the present 

KK 2 



500 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



accession of missionary strength is disposed of, each 
brother has proceeded to his proper and permanent 
location, and the whole range of projected service is 
fairly commenced and in progress, a more satisfac- 
tory result might be then justly anticipated, and 
an influence exerted upon the public mind more 
promising to the pecuniary interests of the Society. 

" Thirdly, to realize the legitimate advantages of 
such a visit, I could not calculate upon an absence of 
less than two years. This would involve relative 
sacrifices which, taken in connexion with those already 
incurred, and which are necessarily incident to the 
duties I discharge, I could not be justified in re- 
solving upon without a manifestation of the Divine 
will too evident to be mistaken ; such as the present 
state of the Western Mission does not offer to my 
mind. With every respect, therefore, dear sirs, for 
your judgment, and with gratitude for this mark of 
your esteem, I am compelled by the above considera- 
tions to refrain compliance with the invitation with 
which you have honoured me." 

In the year 1843 Mr. and Mrs. Carey left their 
residence in the country, and returned to London. 

On procuring young men for the missionary field, 
Mr. Carey writes : — " I have often thought, with 
respect to India, that the Society should recruit their 
ranks from the existing academic institutions, rather 
than take students fiom the outside. It has often 
struck me as a plan more safe, more economical; nor ; 



CONTINUATION OF MR. MORGAN'S LETTER. 



501 



less certain of success, if due and specific measures 
were taken by the friends of the Mission in urging the 
claims upon the minds of promising young men." 

Mr. Morgan, of Calcutta, thus speaks of the influ- 
ence which led him to think of missionary work : — 
"Very many years ago there was at one of the 
Welsh associations the usual gathering of a great 
concourse of people. But there was an unusual stir 
among them. A missionary was about to address the 
multitude. Presently he came forward, and began 
by stating that he had been living in a warm country, 
and would they be kind enough to permit him to 
wear his hat. An appeal so delicately and gentle- 
manly made met with a warm response. ' Yes, yes, 
put it on/ There was a lad present who listened 
with avidity to the strange account which the mis- 
sionary gave of the strange people amongst whom he 
had lived. Some years after that event the same lad 
was invited by the Committee of the Baptist Mission 
to meet them in London. With a palpitating heart 
he opened the door at Fen-court, and on the stairs 
met that missionary coming down. That missionary 
was dear Mr. Carey, and the lad is the writer of this 
paper. These incidents are commonplace enough ; 
yet they are something at the turning point , when 
the ball is set agoing. Somehow or another they are 
not forgotten. 

" The next event that brought me in contact with 
Mr. Carey, was the noble, manly, clear, and common 



502 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



sense defence of the missionaries here, when the sub- 
ject of the Native Pastorate was agitated at home. 
When I read that letter I said, c Mr. Carey has a 
clear perception of things in India, and I am quite 
certain that he is a brother all over.' "* 

Two letters on important subjects, addressed to 
Mr. Angus, follow : — 

" There are two things about which a little solici- 
tude presents itself to my mind : — 

" 1st. Lest from the necessity which has arisen of 
vindicating the counsels and labours of our brethren 
we should be led to attribute an importance to the 
work beyond what its intrinsic or relative worth will 
be found to justify. The Sanscrit is the fountain of all 
Hindoo science and literature, the parent and the model 
of all grammatical law, to which all the many regular 
dialects bend — the perfection of euphony, and the inex- 
haustible source of all words not strictly provincial. 
To have a translation effected in it is important, that 
the learned may be without excuse, and that it may 
be an irrefragable proof and standing memorial of the 
literary competency of our brotherf to every under- 
taking in every other language to which his labours 
are directed. It is still, however, but the language of 

* Mr. Morgan here alludes to a letter of Mr. Carey's on 
Native Agency, published in the June number of the Baptist 
Magazine, 1852. 

f Dr. Yates. 



PRINCIPLE OF EXPEDIENCY. 503 

the learned and the few ; and any labour in the com- 
mon language, for the immediate and spiritual wants 
of the millions, is in my opinion, more relevant to our 
great work, and more in harmony with apostolical 
precept and example. 

" 2ndly. I rather entertain the impression that, 
though the translation into Sanscrit was commenced 
many years since at Serampore, yet that it never 
advanced beyond a limited extent. This particular is 
worth investigation, as it may otherwise betray into 
mistake." 

The Government Principle of Expediency . 

ce I am exceedingly grieved at the misapplied, mise- 
rable parsimony of Government respecting our West 
Indian claims. But I am not much surprised. When- 
ever did a Government do anything from considerations 
of simple justice and the love of man ? Expediency is 
the highest principle they know, or ever desire to 
know. In the emancipation they had two great par- 
ties to serve and to please : the mass of benevolent 
and Christian people, whose voice they could not in 
reason or decency but hear ; they had at the same 
time a great mercenary, commercial and political party, 
whom they dared not offend, and whom they wished 
to please. So they emancipate the slave, and make 
their friends and the world pay twenty millions ster- 
ling to their oppressors ! We religionists are a small 



5M 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



party in the kingdom— we would not provoke any 
resentment against Government, if we could ; and 
now that by the long delay which we have been called 
to suffer, could not hurt them, if we would? So 
we may be neglected and contemned with impunity, 
Alas ! that we ever believed them for an hour." 

TO ME. PEARCE, OP CALCUTTA. 

" May, 1846. — How greatly privileged I deem you 
that you should be spared to labour for so long a 
period under circumstances so interesting to the future 
destinies of millions, and in a sphere to my mind the 
most important that the map of the whole heathen 
world can present to a benevolent and enlightened 
eye. I am waiting with anxious but somewhat con- 
fident expectation for great developments of Provi- 
dence, and glorious achievements of truth and evan- 
gelical principles on the continent of India. All great 
principles and systems of evil — all philosophical reli- 
gions were conceived, cradled, and matured there ; 
and whenever idolatry falls there, its doom is univer- 
sally sealed, and the jubilee of the world has dawned. 
The mighty God and Prince of Peace hasten the 
glorious crisis ! 

" I feel the propriety of all your remarks respecting 
the need of missionaries, but especially that they 
should be of high moral fitness, of mental sinew, men 
patient of suffering, of courage and masculinity of 



LETTER TO MR. G. PEARCE. 



505 



purpose. We suffered much in public estimation, in 

my apprehension, from 's return. A person of 

his talents and promise of ministerial usefulness, and 
for one single illness ! 

"The same thing has happened with , who, 

after being sent to France to study the French lan- 
guage, and sustained upon the public resources for a 

year, goes to , just begins to labour, falls ill with 

fever, his medical attendant tells him that the climate 
will not suit him, he instantly takes an expensive 
passage for himself and family in a government ship ; 
and having but just read of his safe arrival abroad, 
and the commencement of his work, I open the door, 
and see him seated in Moorgate -street, looking fresher 
and stronger than myself. What an opprobrium to 
the missionary name. 

"Dec. 1847. — Nothing would delight me so much 
as to know that several able and devoted missionaries 
were about to sail for Bengal ; men principally quali- 
fied for, and resolutely bent upon, preaching. Some 
persons imagine that no man can be of avail for the 
Eastern Mission unless he be a miraculously prodigious 
linguist. I do all I can everywhere to correct this 
absurdity, assuring my brethren that in India, as in 
every part of the world, good talent, good sense, fer- 
vent piety, benevolence, and a preaching faculty will 
make a good and sufficient missionary. The reputa- 
tion derived to our Mission from the work of trans- 



506 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



lation may have been incidentally injurious, and may 
yet be so, inciting some of literary taste and ambition 
mainly from its congeniality with their own habits to 
desire labour in that specific department ; whilst 
others have been deterred from offering themselves 
for so important a scene of enterprise from the terri- 
fying impression that some rare and extraordinary 
qualifications were indispensable. 

cc The public mind is generally apathetic, at least to 
some painful degree, with respect to the whole circle 
of our Oriental labours. Every speaker perceives to 
his mortification the difficulty of popularizing the 
different themes, sentimental, physical, social, moral, 
and spiritual which it comprises, and which, to a 
thoughtful mind and one able to appreciate them, are 
unspeakably captivating, and which exhilarate future 
expectation almost beyond measure. The good work 
in the West has been associated with so many com- 
monplaces, things palpable and earthly, and taking to 
the general multitudinous mind, that our glorious and 
magnificent sphere of things, with all its interests 
ethereal or infernal, throws out no attractions. But 
the Christian world must, ere long, turn their atten- 
tion again to the East, where they made their first 
attempt in the great conflict, and where, too, their 
greatest victories are destined to be won, and that at 
no distant period." 

There was only one occasion on which Mr. Carey 



ON TRANSLATIONS. 



507 



alluded to his denominational distinction on the plat- 
form. This was when, for illustration of his remarks 
on the language in which he had preached the Gospel 
to the natives of India, he would take occasion to 
show its copiousness and its capability of supplying 
every idea which we can convey in our own language 
for the various purposes of washing and of dipping, 
and pouring and sprinkling, without the aid of the 
Greek word baptize. He would describe their going 
down to the river for the various purposes of ablution; 
and then, by some rapid movement on the platform, 
it has seemed as if he approached that colossal prop 
and companion of all missionaries except the Baptists, 
and said, " Mr. Bible Society, what do you think of 
that ?" adding, u Ten thousand times every day are 
these words used in the common parlance of the 
people. If a mother goes down to dip her babe in 
the river, she uses the word which implies the act of 
putting her child's body under the water. What am 
I, as a missionary, to do with my translation of the 
Scriptures, if you tell me, c I will help you only on 
this condition, that you transfer the words V Yet 
here is a word which answers precisely to the Greek 
of that same word, and is in common use by every 
native every day." 

But it would be well for the Bible Society to consider 
not only the injustice which they do to the society 
which they invidiously exclude from those who are 



508 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



recipients of their aid, but the injustice which they 
also do to themselves by persisting in this line of 
conduct. For it is not to be forgotten that, while 
England's chief glory is its being the land of Bibles, 
and of a society formed not more for its people than 
for the wide world of mankind, it must ever be, 
whether at home or abroad, as the pioneer or com- 
panion of the preacher of the Gospel — for in no case 
does it dispense with or lessen the value of this Divine 
Institution — so that, if the Bible Society is designed 
to aid in any manner, either by free grants of Bibles 
or of a reduced charge in case of purchase to Baptists 
at home, why should it refuse aid to Baptists in India 
who translate from the original language into the 
vernacular, as faithful and conscientious lovers of 
truth and men of God ? Thus, the great society by 
which our land has been so much distinguished as a 
practical and powerful Evangelical Alliance, becomes 
itself sectarian, promotes uniformity of sentiment 
where it should encourage only union of faith, of 
heart, and effort in seeking the salvation of the world 
by multiplying copies of the Word of God. 

At the time of this controversy, Mr. Kinghorn 
clearly pointed out the manner in which the society 
stultified itself by reminding them of the single fact, 
that "the Bible Society permits the Syrians and 
Arabians to read from their versions translations of 
the term baptize, &c, but is requested not to suffer 



BIBLE SOCIETY CONTROVERSY. 509 



the Indian public to know what the words mean."* 
The following letter on this subject, from the 
pen of Mr. Carey, will not fail to interest the 
reader : — 

" Since meeting the Committee of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, my mind has been painfully 
impressed when recurring to the subject of the Cal- 
cutta letter which then occupied its attention. I feel 
anxiously solicitous to secure, if it be possible, some 
further consideration to the contents of that document 
ere the Committee of the Bible Society pledge them- 
selves to any procedure which may involve conse- 
quences of some moment to the interests of the 
venerable institution itself, as well as to the comfort 
of their coadjutors in India. 

" When invited to be present, I had no knowledge 
of the business which was to employ its deliberations ; 
and, when apprised of it, my impression at first was, 
that its decision must be determined by some funda- 
mental law of the institution. This proving a mis- 
apprehension, and that decision evidently resolving 
itself into a matter of expediency, a conviction forcibly 
urges itself on my mind, that upon reviewing the 
several particulars of this case, propriety and advan- 
tage may seem to justify a course different to that 
resolved upon on Friday; or, at least, suggest a 

* Eor more information on this subject, see Life of Joseph 
Kinghonty by Martin Hood Wilkin. 



510 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



doubt whether or not the wisdom of the Committee 
may not better evince itself by hesitating to inter- 
pose its advice, and, finally it may be, its authority, 
in a case of acknowledged difficulty, and not, as 
it appears to me, imperatively forced upon their 
attention. 

t€ The gentlemen who memorialize the Committee 
upon this occasion, though amongst the cordial friends 
of the British and Foreign Bible Society, yet are not 
the representatives of its auxiliary society in Calcutta, 
but are only a part of that body, addressing, upon 
their own responsibility, the parent institution upon 
a subject, the decision of which is to involve the sen- 
timents of another body of the friends, who, it seems, 
are kept quite in ignorance of the procedure, and are 
never to have an opportunity of expressing their sen- 
timents until the decision of the Committee at home 
is actually gone forth and passed into a law. 

u The oftener I reflect upon the document in ques- 
tion, the more my regret deepens at the spirit which 
it breathes ; and the more am I convinced the design 
it meditates of securing the Committee of the 
Bible Society to interfere between their friends in 
India, if attained, would be utterly ineffectual in 
removing the evils of which it complains. 

"For if it be the case, as this letter insinuates, 
that uneasiness exists in the minds of the missionaries 
respecting their native converts upon the subject of 



ON TRANSLATIONS. 



511 



baptism, it does not, I am disposed to believe, arise 
from the use of words in the Bengalee Testament, but 
from other causes, the remedy of which must be sought, 
not from any authority interposed by the Committee 
of the Bible Society, or from any other distinct body 
of Christians, but from the cultivation of Christian 
affections, and by the maintaining of an honourable 
and benign deportment by the persons on the scene of 
action. It is much to be feared, from the contents of 
this letter, that a certain root of bitterness is springing 
up in India, and threatens to trouble us. But, how- 
ever benevolent the intentions of the Committee of 
the Bible Society may be in seeking to extirpate it, 
nothing can possibly prove effectual to this purpose 
but the circumspection, dignity, and genuine bene- 
volence of gospel principles, assiduously cultivated by 
the brethren themselves. 

" My Uncle Carey brings into every department of 
the missionary work a mind singularly simple, 
exact, and energetic. Decision, and patience of labour 
and of suffering, are the grand constituents of his 
character. In so capital a work as that of translating 
the Word of God, we may justly expect to see the 
leading characteristics of his mind develope them- 
selves. And if, when interfered with in prosecuting 
this great work, he should ever seem rigid in matters 
which some may deem of slight moment, that rigidity, 
in the estimation of the wise and good, will receive 



512 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ample compensation in the sanctity of his ruling 
principles. 

u In translating the Word of God he has it im- 
pressed upon his conscience to give the mind of the 
Spirit, in every passage, upon every subject, and if 
that were possible, in every word. This principle he 
applies to the subject of baptism, as to every other. 
He judges that the Greek words (ia-n-rbg and (5a7rri^(o 
have a primary and appropriate meaning as well as 
other verbs, and that such meaning is transferable 
into foreign mediums. That in legislating for his 
Church our Lord would use words in such sense in 
preference to any one secondary and metaphorical. 
In the Bengalee translation, my Uncle has adopted 
the word Duhe, with its cognates, as more strictly 
conformable to the Greek verbs than any other. 

" The brethren of the Episcopal and Independent 
denominations in this memorial complain of this 
course, and affirm that the word is used in the sense 
of drowning, &c. 

"But, if I am not greatly mistaken, its proper 
signification is to dip, to plunge, to immerse. People 
use it as expressive of excessive sorrow and over- 
whelming calamity, as our Blessed Lord did the 
Greek word, when adverting to his final agony. 

" Indeed, if the Bengalee word Dube were trans- 
lated into Greek, I know not how it could be ex- 
pressed but by the very words to express which my 
Uncle has adopted it. 



ON TRANSLATIONS. 513 

" Mr. Ellerton, it is remarked, has retained the 
Greek words. In the first instance, I was informed, 
it was not so, but that he used the very same words 
which are now complained of ; and that he consented 
to the alteration at the suggestion of his justly- 
respected friend, Mr. Thomason. 

" My Uncle has pursued his course now for nearly 
twenty years as a fellow-labourer with this venerable 
institution. He has done so in a manner most explicit 
and honourable ; and up to this period the British 
and Foreign Bible Society have not deemed it un- 
suitable to afford him their countenance, and have 
incorporated an honourable mention of his exertions 
with the records of their important labours. 

" He may consent to a course acceptable to the 
gentlemen who have signed this memorial; but all 
the probabilities are against it. If he conceive that 
it would compromise principle and conscience, not all 
the societies in the world will signify the weight of a 
feather. He will sooner not labour — which to him 
would be the same as not to live — than labour under 
any dishonourable condition. 

" Those whom I know of the brethren who have 
signed this memorial, I respect and love ; but in this 
particular, my impression is they have stepped 
beyond their line, and appear solicitous to prejudice 
the counsels of a catholic institution in favour of 
denominational fears and feelings. But one of these 

L L 



514 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



brethren, to my recollection, Mr. Bawley, has contri- 
buted anything to the cause of Bible translation, 
whereas those whose labours may be material! 
affected by the measure they solicit are amongst th 
early coadjutors of the institution. 

" We never had any brethren in the Baptist denO' 
mination in India, to my knowledge, zealous for 
baptism but brother Chamberlain; and yet he was 
stricter in the candidates he received to the ordinance 
than any one of his brethren. But Hindoos and 
Hindoo converts do not think of the subject of water 
baptism as Christians and ministers in this country, 
who are pledged to early views and connexions; 
and, living in a hot climate, they are accustomed to 
washing and dipping daily and hourly. The converts 
of different societies meeting, will talk the subject 
over; and what remedy can be devised against it? 
I greatly question whether any European brother has 
exchanged with the converts of another denomination, 
unsolicited, much, if any, conversation upon the 
subject. 

But did I believe, as my respected independent 
brethren do, that immersion is equally a proper mode 
of Christian baptism with application of water, I 
would certainly — to secure my converts to my own 
future superintendence — baptize them in any way 
which would satisfy their consciences, and retain my j 
sheep in the fold to which I myself pertained. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



515 



u Had it been in my power, I would have rejoiced 
to have given utterance in person to these sentiments, 
but they did not so fully, nor in the same order, pre- 
sent themselves when permitted to speak to the point. 
Should the proprieties of the case allow your reading 
these lines, or any part of them, they are submitted 
to your discretion ; and your permission to do so will 
be a renewed proof of the candour and liberality of 
the Committee.— Muswell Hill, Jan. 31, 1828." 



UPON SWEDENBORGIANISM. 

<e Carmarthen, Oct. 9, 1838. — I am deeply con- 
vinced that no one can embrace the system of 
Swedenborg without a renunciation of the plain and 
essential principles of the Gospel revelation. There 
is no doctrine or fact, historical or miraculous, that it 
does not pervert, or explain away, or mystify. The 
deep solemnities of the incarnation and atonement, 
the resurrection, and the regenerating agency of the 
Holy Spirit, are converted into a mere riddle and 
phantasm ; and there is nothing in the whole circle of 
truth it does not mar; so neither is there any- 
thing in the whole circle of religious affections and 
duties with respect to God, or our relation to his 
cause or his Church, which that system does not 
disturb and stultify, or annihilate. Its speculations 

are heathenish ; and its spirit is Socinian. It leaves 

L L 2 



516 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



those who embrace it not a single sentiment, nor 
affection, nor purpose in the slightest sympathy 
with any one section of the Universal Church of 
Christ. Mr. will know this ; for when I re- 
turned home after eleven years 5 absence, it was 
his opinion that the reading the Lord's Prayer was 
the only act of worship in which it was proper 
to unite. Pause, I beseech you, ere you plunge 
into this gulf of mysticism and error. As to 
the beauty of these sentiments, you may be under 
mistake and illusion. The beauty of sentiments con- 
sists in their close affinity to the truth they relate to, 
and the moral and religious influence they exert. 
But I cannot say your announcement surprised me. 

x *n * 

Alas for you ! that you should hold the precious im- 
mutable truths of the Gospel in such light estima- 
tion as to cast them away, and imperil your salvation 
for a system of sophisms, and fancies, and baubles. 
I am filled with grief — I am oppressed with sorrow. 

cc You will certainly conceive it your duty to con- 
verse with your pastor, Mr. or Dr. . Delay 

in so important an affair can be in no wise detrimental. 
By all means take time, read and pray, and pray and 
read. Do not mistake my grief for anger ; take time, 
reflect, and ponder again the whole affair " 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



517 



OX TRIALS FROM OUR. FELLOW- CREATURES . 

" Camberwell Grove, May 14, 1835. — I can easily 
conceive that this trial may have derived great addi- 
tional poignancy from the intimacy of the parties who 
have involuntarily incurred it upon you. It is a visi- 
tation of that mixed and complicated nature, that, to 
be rightly borne, must be allowed to call into deter- 
mined and vigorous exercise various Christian graces,, 
which, though they are in beautiful consistency the 
one with the other, it requires some eminence in the 
Christian life to exemplify in combination. If I am 
afflicted in my person, or in the persons of my dearest 
connexions, or if I am called to consign those to the 
grave who may be dear to me as my own soul, my 
trial, indeed, is severe, and my grief may be intense ; 
yet my duty is simple, and easily discerned. I can at 
once discover the hand of God, and my concern is to 
subdue and to tranquillize my selfish agitated spirit to 
a humble, peaceful submission to the supremacy of an 
invisible and almighty Ruler. He, withal, is my 
father and my portion, and offers me such assurances 
of his faithfulness, his infinite, unchangeable love, that 
I may well assuage my sorrows, and so withdraw 
myself from all created dependence and complacency 
in sublunary good as to assimilate my feelings to 
those of the Psalmist, who exclaims, ' My soul is even 
as a weaned child ; a child that is weaned of its 



518 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



mother/ But when our afflictions are not so imme- 
diately from the divine hand, but come to us through 
the intervention of our fellow- creatures, the right 
adjustment of our feelings is a task of somewhat 
greater difficulty. I have not merely to cultivate 
humility and filial submission with respect to God, 
but forbearance, and it may be forgiveness, with 
respect to men. 

" But God is able to make all grace abound, and I 
cannot doubt but my dear friends have already expe- 
rienced those supplies of spiritual comfort which, 
though they be at all times available, are especially 
reserved for seasons of disappointment and trouble. 
As you never considered your happiness suspended 
upon the amount of this world's good which the 
divine providence might confide to you, so I am con- 
vinced that, though some portion of that good may 
be withdrawn, it will leave your peace undisturbed 
and your happiness undiminished. 'Your citizen- 
ship/ my beloved friends, 'is in heaven/ No vicis- 
situdes in your earthly circumstances can affect 
that." 

The extracts of letters which close this chapter were 
addressed by Mr. Carey to his oldest and most valued 
friend, Dr. Hoby. The writer regrets that they do 
not appear in the Memoir in their regular chrono- 
logical order; but having been by some accident 
mislaid, they were not presented by Mr. Carey's 



I 



LETTERS TO DR. HOBY. 



519 



respected correspondent until the last sheets of this 
work were passing through the press. They are, 
however, much too valuable to be wholly omitted. 
The reader will perceive how confirmatory they are of 
all that has been stated respecting Mr. Carey's life 
and labours. 

The two first letters were written before he went 
to India. There are others equally interesting, but 
it is impossible now to find space for them. 

" Northampton, May 20, 1812.— All, all is blank 
for the present, and I cannot help blaming myself for 
not writing to you, as your anxiety must have been 
great indeed. I deferred writing to you in reply to 
yours till now, because I could communicate nothing 
with certainty before. I learnt nothing from Mr. 
Fuller more than I wrote to you, till I came to the 
meeting of ministers which was held here yesterday. 
I got here on Tuesday evening, when Mr. Fuller thus 
addressed me, 1 Well, this is the man who was almost 
dead ! I fear it is all a blank about India at the 
present/ 

" After a week's suspense and anxiety this was not 
thayaaost pleasant information, but I am more and 
more convinced that God does right. The difficulty 
arises from those sworn enemies of God and godliness, 

the Company. They fear that, although it 

be a Danish ship, yet if I go without the permission 
of tj|e Company, they would prevent my landing. 



520 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



The Committee, therefore, thought it not advisable to 
proceed upon an insecure ground. 

" But oh, my dear Hoby, I want you to go with 
me, go when I may. Perhaps you will declare your- 
self for this blessed, blessed w T ork. I feel my mind 
much more composed after such anxiety than I could 
expect ; but how the dear girl at Leicester is I cannot 
tell. I was to go back to-day, but there is no day- 
coach, and I dare not travel in the night. I feel a 
secret pleasure that I am in the hands of God. I feel 
I am the servant of God, and am as confident as I am 
of my existence that if he means to bless me in India, 
I shall go. And if not, he may bless me elsewhere. 
But yet my desire for missionary labours is as strong 
as ever. 

" Three more were yesterday admitted in the 
Society. My dear Hoby, I do hope in my heart you 
may go. I truly thank you for your letter, which is 
so kind and so affectionate, but have this to say, that 
if you continue to pay the postage of your letters I 
shall do so too. 

" I had begun to think I was well, and certainly I 
am much better than I was ; but perhaps the hope of 
going to India strengthened one limb out of the four. 
My dutiful regards to Dr. By land. Bespects to 
Mack, to Taylor, and the classmates. FareweD, my 
dear Hoby. 

"Leicester, March 20, 1813.— Your kind fetter 



LETTERS TO DR. HOBY. 



521 



came to hand last week. I hope you will receive my 
hearty acknowledgment of the affectionate regard it 
breathes. I trust our friendship will never be les- 
sened on either side, for hearts united in the love of 
Christ are not soon parted. 

" You tell me in yours that you c love the service 
of the Saviour more than ever and I think that I 
can say that I never felt more solemnly dedicated to 
God and to his cause than I do at this moment. The 
more I contemplate the religion of the New Testa- 
ment, the more of God I see in it ; the more cause I 
see to glory in its principles, and the more do I long- 
to make them known. There is no religion calculated 
to meet the miseries of the human race but this — 
none that can make known an assurance of pardon to 
the guilty — none that can effectually heal the mala- 
dies of apostates but this. Oh that it was but known 
and loved by all who have souls to be saved ! 

'? I have felt of late more devoted to the work of 
the Mission than ever, and have made it a matter of 
earnest prayer that I may engage in it from the purest 
motives. I feel attached to this work in preference 
to any other ; and, according to my present views, I 
could not abandon the prospect of a missionary life 
under any consideration, except the will of God 
should seem to forbid. Nevertheless, I do not feel 
impatient or uneasy at the delay I am necessitated to 
experience. I still find a continuance of that kind- 



522 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ness from my friends here which I at the first expe- 
rienced. It is a feast to me every Sabbath to hear 
Mr. Hall, and whenever I call upon him he treats 
me with the greatest tenderness and familiarity. In 
addition to this, I have friends of whom I can borrow 
any books that I want, so that I read and do as much 
as my health will allow. 

" Doorgapore, Feb. 7, 1824. — You will not deem 
me troublesome, I believe, but my design in writing 
is to request you will do us the favour of seeing our 
dear William Fosbrook for the purpose of acquainting 
him with the death of his beloved sister, Annie Yates 
Carey. This is a providence altogether so unexpected 
and so painful to Mrs. Carey and myself, that we are 
scarcely able to realize our affliction. This is the 
fourth child we have lost. Yet I would fain consider 
them as gained. When, a few months ago, I noticed 
the removal of our second, Eustace, it was a consolation 
that the Lord had removed our darlings in infancy. 
But the present is a stroke of a very different 
nature. My child was arrived at a most interesting 
period, being six years of age — the only child with 
us. She was to us at least a very, very lovely child; 
fond of reading, learning Scripture portions, and 
hymns, &c, in which she certainly made no mean 
proficiency. Many and very pleasant indeed were 
the hours she and her dear mamma spent together 



LETTERS TO DR. HOBY. 



523 



reading the Scriptures. William will remember whole 
evenings thus spent. 

"Paunchoo, the Christian brother, this morning 
in prayer remembered ns by saying, c Lord, thou hast 
afflicted them as thou didst Job. Oh! give them 
that same grace that they may also say, e The Lord 
gave/ ,; &c. My children were exceedingly fond of 
this brother. William will not soon forget him, I 
think. Annie Yates, after the death of her last little 
brother, being at his hut, said to him : — 

" ■ Paunchoo, tell me, would you like to die and go 
to heaven? 5 

a ' Yes, Annie. This is an enemy's country. Why 
should I wish to live when the Lord shall please to 
call me T 

<c c I, too/ said the child, c wish to die and go to 
my clear brothers and to my sister, who are now 
little angels/ 

££ The last word she uttered was expressive of her 
desire to go to heaven ; and I have, bless the Lord, 
reason to hope she knew something of the nature of 
the place, and the way to it. 

" I wish she could have said more ; but that might 
not have been so well for us, as our trial might 
thereby have been too light to have accomplished the 
end for which our Lord has designed it. I have more 
reason to fear feeling too little than too much. I 



524 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



sometimes feel as though I were encased in stupidity. 
Pray for us, that we may not despise the chastening 
of the Lord, nor faint when we are rebuked of 
Him." 

" June 15, 1824. — This will, in all probability, be 
the last I shall address to you from Bengal for — how 
long shall I say ? The doctor has ordered me home, 
without reserve. The brethren have concurred in re- 
commending the measure, and my passage is secured 
in an American ship, the Factor, and in twenty days 
I and my poor wife are to be on board. What shall 
I say ? — what can I say ? — but cast myself upon the 
tender mercy and care of Him ivhose is the sea and the 
dry land. Distant anticipation of reaching home and 
entering the habitations of those whom we love seems 
almost entirely prevented by a multitude of most 
anxious feelings. Here I leave my companions in 
labour, and I may say, sorrow ; for into whose hand, 
in our little much-loved circle, has not the cup of 
affliction passed? Little has been the fruit of our 
labour; but this little I leave. Our hands are few 
and feeble, but Providence thus reduces us still lower; 
and, while I go in search of health, I leave those 
behind me little better than myself. I leave the dust 
of four precious babes mouldering in their graves, and 
among them my dearest, my sweetest Annie Yates 
Carey, who, some few Sabbaths since, breathed her 
dear and lovely spirit into the hands of Jesus. After 



LETTERS TO DR. HOBY. 



525 



severe sufferings from both liver and spleen, which 
continued for three successive months, she had a few 
hours of sweet relief, spoke of the Sabbath — of going 
to her dear brother Eustace, who died a few months 
previously — of being with Jesus and in heaven, and, 
after being soothed into a sweet sleep by her dear 
mamma, stole away from us in a moment. My poor 
heart swells with grief while I hastily recount these 
sorrows. I hope I do not repine ; nay, if I know my 
own mind, I would not for the world and all it 
contains solicit her return, were that permitted me. 
No; let her rest in his dear bosom who gathers the 
lambs in his arms ! But who could lose Annie and 
not feel ? It is, indeed, that we 'might feel that the 
Lord has removed her. Should we ever meet, you 
must bear with me, and let me be sorrowful. May 
you never hiow how to sympathize with me. 

" A month yesterday I came from our native sta- 
tion, where I have lived for several years, for medical 
advice, was thrown into a deep salivation, and am 
now just recovering, and am able to go about the 
house. I bless the Lord for his goodness. I may get 
a little strength previously to my going on board. A 
bad time of the year for sailing. I also fear much 
from the excitement likely to be occasioned at parting, 
&c. I know the Lord is able to support me; that is, 
I know it just as I know that two and two make 
four ; but whether, at the moment of trial, I may be 



526 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



able to comfort my heart by knowing it, is more than 
I can pretend to say till the hour arrives. Allow me 
again to acknowledge my deep obligation to you for 
your continued attention to our dear William, now our 
only child." 

"Camden Hill, Feb. 1827. — I trust my health is 
really improved, yet I do not feel a man by a great 
deal. Greater progress was anticipated by me when 
first I landed, but the disappointment may be indis- 
pensable to my spiritual welfare. ' Thou wilt keep 
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, 
because he trusteth in thee/ is a text I much wish to 
preach from, but hardly know how to do it. 

" I wish greater attention, and an intention more 
indicative of ardent affection to the Mission itself, 
were discovered by the Committee, especially by 
ministers. The business of the Mission may be much 
more conveniently transacted in London ; but its spi- 
ritual interests, I begin to think, must have been felt 
much more adequately by the old-fashioned people in 
the country. I am much mistaken if the bond of 
affection be not in danger of a gradual relaxation 
between the Society (I mean the Committee at 
home) and the missionary agents abroad. Some little 
fear entertained in due time upon this head might 
be rather useful to the permanent interests of the 
Mission. What strikes me as above all things 
wanted, is a strong intercommunity of feeling and 



LETTEES TO DR. HOBY. 527 

interests. All seems now reduced to hard matter 
of business. To meet for prayer and consultation 
upon the more strictly spiritual interests of the 
Mission seems as far beyond our thought as jour- 
neying to the moon. 

" Believe me, my very dear brother, affectionately 
yours, 

< f E. Carey." 



CHAP. XVIII. 



CHANGE OF RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOCIETY — VIEWS 
OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY — OUTLINES OF 
CHARACTER, 

In 1845 the Society with which Mr. Carey had been 
in association for twenty years changed somewhat 
its character towards him ; so that, in his esteem, a 
new phase was given to his relationship with it. 
While considered fully capable of pleading the 
Society's cause, and of representing it as aforetime, 
yet was he deemed virtually incapable of taking part 
in its counsels, and having his name enrolled among 
its executive. 

The fact is simply this : — At the annual meeting 
of the subscribers of the Baptist Missionary Society 
Mr. Carey's name was struck off the list of proposed 
members for the ensuing year by those who were 
then in office. The reason assigned for this was, that 
he was in the receipt of a salary, and therefore dis- 
qualified. The then secretary plainly stated to the 
meeting that the same objection applied to himself. 
Nevertheless, his name was never put on again. It 



RECESSION FROM THE SOCIETY. 



529 



always appeared to Mr. Carey that this was an act of 
injustice. 

Perhaps it was not to be wondered at that his 
long connexion with the Society — the aid he had 
rendered, together with his brethren, in originating 
the property in Calcutta belonging to the Society — 
and the amount of personal and pecuniary contribu- 
tions which he had given, should have confirmed "him 
in an idea that he was a recognised member of its 
executive. 

It seemed also strange both to himself and to many 
others that he should be considered worthy to repre- 
sent the Society, and yet be denied all share in its 
counsels ; especially as he had never regarded him- 
self, nor had the Christian public so looked upon 
him, as simply its paid subordinate agent. 

The writer has simply to do w~ith this matter here 
as the biographer of Mr. Carey, and to record that to 
him it was a most painful trial, and coloured with a 
deep tinge of melancholy the remainder of his life. 
None but those who were in daily intercourse with 
him knew the depth and intensity of his feeling on 
this matter. 

But as on a former occasion of afflictive differ- 
ences, so, in this case, it is not for the writer to 
remove the veil which time has thrown over the 
decisions of some who were, as much as Mr. Carey, 
devoted to the same great cause. Yet, however con- 

M M 



530 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



siderable the zeal and the devotedness of those who 
conducted the affairs of the Society at this time, this re- 
mark may be ventured, and will be free from the charge 
of vanity, that no one of this body was in advance of 
him in respect to his experience, and his knowledge 
of missionary work. It is easy, however, for us to 
sympathize with him in the feeling which is common to 
us all — the dislike which we must naturally have to be 
laid aside by our fellow-creatures from work, when 
the sun is yet high in our heavens, and all the 
activities of life are about us. Yet was there a 
merciful design in all this. For so many years a 
welcomed visitor amongst the churches, and in high 
esteem for his work's sake, it was intended to prepare 
him for the future, and to further his highest in- 
terests. "But the trials of life," he used to say, 
" are very much that which we make them to be, and 
depend for their degree of poignancy upon the 
medium through which we behold them. Trial* is 
also sure to come in connexion with those things 
which afford us' the most pleasure/" To Mr. Carey 
this event was one of those which God designed 
should wean his servant from his loved employment, 
prepare him gradually for his heavenly rest, while 
his loving Saviour whispered by it and the events 
which followed the words — " Come ye yourself apart, 
and rest awhile." 

Two years after this, it was officially intimated to 



KECESSION FROM THE SOCIETY. 



531 



Mr. Carey that other changes were in contemplation 
by the Society. These changes were publicly notified 
in the Herald of September, 1849 ; and he, in conse- 
quence, sent in his resignation of his office. He 
designed now to take the pastorate of some church; 
but when this work was put in his way, on two or 
three occasions, his mind intuitively recoiled from it, 
deeming himself wholly unequal to its requirements, 
and more especially as exercised in the country. 
Having no distinct work, therefore, at the instance of 
the Committee, in 1850, he consented to travel for 
the Society during three or four months in the year. 
This engagement he retained to the last. 

In the year 1852, when visiting the north of 
England for the Mission, he had an alarming illness 
at Bradford. He was staying at the house of Mr. and 
Mrs. Harwood, who kindly ministered to his comfort 
and relief. Very gradual was his recovery ; but during 
the last year and a half of his life it was supposed to 
be complete. He had still great pleasure in preach- 
ing and speaking, and was always improved in health 
and spirits by his work. After now nearly thirty, 
years of unbroken labour, the old theme was fresh 
and young; for India was written on his heart. 
This name of a country he loved so much was worn by 
him as a signet. In the social circle, when the con- 
versation turned on India, his soul beamed through 
every feature of his countenance, and his eyes bright- - 

M M 2 



532 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



ened into those sparkling ones worn long ago by the 
Northampton youth, and showing most clearly that 
the spirit was not crushed with advancing years, nor 
his strength of devotion in any way broken. So 
much was this the ease, that when occasionally de- 
pressed in spirits, some member of the family would 
remark — " Papa seems very low and taciturn to- 
night." "Oh," would be the instant rejoinder by 
another, "get him to talk about India; ask him 
some question about its mythology, or the etymology 
of some Bengalee word, and he will be as bright 
and eager as a boy of sixteen." 



The character of Mr. Carets preaching is too well 
known to the churches amongst which he itinerated 
to require here any description from the pen of the 
writer. 

There are, however, one or two remarks which may 
be safely advanced with reference to his views of the 
Christian ministry, and of the manner in w T hich he 
sought to " make full proof" of his call to it, which 
may not be wholly uninteresting. 

It cannot be too clearly stated, that he attached 
the highest dignity and importance to the Christian 
ministry as an institution of Christ, and believed that 
it was intended by him to be the principal means 
of blessing and saving the world ; that no other 



VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 533 



dispensation was to be expected, the simple preach- 
ing of the Gospel being designed to be final and 
triumphant. 

These opinions he held most sacredly; for they 
were, as he thought, at the foundation of the New 
Testament teaching. They were in accordance with 
his own early experience and opinions, were 
strengthened by his work as a missionary, by his 
growth in years and in the knowledge of his 
Saviour. And not only so ; but his firm hold of these 
truths gave a character to his work abroad ; in after 
life, an abiding and joyous hope as to India's final 
deliverance from the thraldom of idolatry, and were 
the mainspring of his predilection for missionary or 
ministerial work. 

It may be asked here why such prominence should 
be given to a belief in truths which are so self- 
evident, so universally admitted throughout Chris- 
tendom, and respecting whose correctness there could 
be no possible question, except by a certain class of 
Millenarians ? 

A reply may be given by asking another question. 
From the limited use which the Church makes of 
this instrumentality — both at home and abroad — 
is it not to be feared that there exists amongst 
its members some doubt as to those truths which 
are the prop and sustenance of its own being? 
There can be little doubt that we have not only 



534 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



now to contend with lax notions respecting the 
use of preaching, but we have to contend with 
the vagarious manner in which this precious gift of 
God is sought to be exercised: some almost exclu- 
sively preaching to the intellect ; some, with the same 
exclusiveness, to the Church ; others, to sinners, as the 
phrase goes. From some we have school-room, athe- 
naeum, mechanics' institute lectures, and all, on that 
Day of days, which is God's gift to man for the culti- 
vation and improvement of his religious life. In his 
ministry Mr. Carey never lost sight of the truth which 
stands at the entrance into the kingdom — cc If any 
man will do Ids tvill, he shall know of the doctrine 
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 
This is the work of God, that ye believe on him 
whom He hath sent/' It makes one weary to hear 
some preachers; how they go through the w T hole 
circle of arguments again and again ; of evidences, 
of demonstrations, of reasons for receiving the 
Gospel; just as if to clear the head of the man was 
to convert his heart; just as if it was from igno- 
rance merely that he v/as an enemy to God, and 
not from the perversion and obstinacy of his will 
and his whole moral being. All this splendid and 
correctly-adjusted logic is often to the minds of 
hearers what an eloquent writer says philosophy was 
to the night of paganism — u like the lantern-fly of the 



PREACHING. 



535 



tropics, a light to itself and an ornament of the sur- 
rounding darkness/'"* Such preaching reminds one 
of a passage in the Golden Legend, where it is said 
that on one occasion, when the monks were consider- 
ing in their school at Salerno, 

" When, where, and wherefore Lucifer fell, 
And whether he now is chained in hell, 55 

Satan himself comes in as a doctor, and says ; — 

" I think I can answer that question well : 
So long as the boastful human mind 
Consents in such mills as this to grind, 
I sit very firmly on my throne. 55 

The grand point in this matter is the submission of 
the will to God; but, alas, how often is the under- 
standing — that faculty of the mind which Coleridge 
calls " the most subtle of all the beasts of the field y 
— catered for by the preacher most of all ? When the, 
heart is right with God, the understanding becomes 
enlightened and sanctified. 

As Mr. Carey had a great dislike to controversy of 
all sorts, he never placed the Gospel controversially 
before his hearers; but, taking a fundamental truth 
admitted by all, he built up other truths upon it, 
evolved from them motives for Christian belief and 
practice, and plied the heart with arguments for 
obedience in a manner most earnest, yet most 
winning. 

* Coleridge's Aids, &c. 



536 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



It was his desire ever to cany out Mr. Hair's 
invaluable suggestion — "Endeavour to acquire as 
extensive and perfect a knowledge as possible of the 
dictates of inspiration; and by establishing your 
hearers in these, preclude the entrance of error rather 
than confute it" 

Although his preaching was not argumentative, yet 
his sermons presented a series of well-defined propo- 
sitions, closely united in regular sequence, arising 
naturally out of the subject before him, forming a 
climax, and terminating in a flow of warm and stir- 
ring eloquence. He always seemed like a brother 
speaking to his brethren. His discourses were always 
addressed to his hearers, irrespective of their division 
into saints and sinners. He taught sinners as he 
taught the saints, by a manifestation of the truth ; by 
bringing the kingdom of God near to them, cc which 
is righteousness, and joy, and peace in the Holy 
Ghost." His Calvinism was as J ohn Newton said all 
Calvinism should be, " like sugar in the tea, tasted, 
but not seen." Yet was it most unmistakeably there. 
Is not this as it should be ? Is not the preaching 
of the Gospel in the great congregation to be a spread- 
ing of the Gospel feast for the acceptance of all, for 
those out of the highways and hedges, who may have 
been compelled to come in, as well as for those who 
have been accustomed to sit down at the Master's 
table? 



STYLE OF PREACHING. 



537 



Is it not the grand object of the Church — the main 
reason of its existence — that it may be a light to 
attract the wanderer, the reservoir of blessing to the 
world ? Surely this is the very genius of Christianity 
— the daguerreotype of the Gospel message, which is 
to be " to every creature." 

Any one familiar with the writings of John Howe 
cannot fail to be struck with the resemblance in the 
order of thought and plan of composition between 
them and Mr. Carey's sermons. This may be ac- 
counted for by the fact that he was his favourite 
author, whose works were most carefully studied. 

The Rev. J. Dore says of Mr. Carey's preaching : — 
"The acceptability of his sermons and speeches 
depended much on the congeniality of the taste, and 
the corresponding mould in which the mind of an 
individual was cast, and on the degree of the mental 
cultivation of his audience ; but even where there 
was no great portion of intellectual refinement, so ne- 
cessary duly to appreciate his classical and elegant 
style, yet the devotional feeling he evinced, and the 
important evangelical truths he advanced, always 
deeply interested the hearts of the truly pious, and 
secured the approbation of those who admired the 
Scriptures, and loved the Saviour, however small 
might be their amount of worldly learning-." 

This is perfectly true ; but though the humble 
Christian poor, and many classes also of the irreligious 



538 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



poor, could well understand him, it must be allowed 
that the style and character of his sermons were not 
suited to the class of questioning, doubting, antago- 
nistic minds to whom the ordinary expressions of 
religious doctrines # are unfamiliar — a class always 
sufficiently large in our populous towns. 

Mr. Carey's manner of delivery was quiet and un- 
demonstrative in the pulpit ; when on the platform, 
his action would often be energetic ; but the solemnities 
of the sanctuary ever seemed to restrain and subdue his 
naturally vivacious manner. Yet, on the platform, his 
impetuosity of diction and warmth of action were ever 
the natural outgrowth of his kindling theme. Nothing 
annoyed him much more than to see a man get up 
and begin to be loud and boisterous before he had 
time to warm himself with his subject. "Out of 
nature/' he used to call it, and certainly he never fell 
into the same fault himself. 

Of his missionary speeches no accurate record has 
been kept. There is not one which is fairly given. 
This arose from the inability of the reporters to keep 
pace with him. Often have they been seen to lay down 
the pen with a smile at their vain attempt to follow 
the rapid speaker. 

V ery few were his words about money, and very 
neatly adjusted. Pressing people to give he could 
not endure. He used to say, " If Christian motives, 
love to Christ and his great cause, the destitution of 



ON GIVING. 



539 



the heathen, and the influence of prayer did not 
secure a collection, nothing else would do it. 

"I cannot talk about giving, nor press people 
against their will. Besides, let no one suppose that 
we travel about the country merely to gain money ; 
that money is the only thing we want in carrying 
forward the great missionary enterprise. We want 
your prayers, we want your sympathy, we want you 
to feel that this cause is yours — that it is that 
which your Saviour has committed to you as his 
servants. c Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? 
Feed my lambs, feed my sheep/ O try to imitate 
your Saviour, who, when he saw the multitude, was 
moved with compassion, because they fainted and 
were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." 
He was very fond of quoting a text from the Psalms, 
which he used to think had special reference to this 
subject — u Thy people shall be willing in the day of 
thy power," willing to consecrate themselves and 
their substance when God shall pour forth abundantly 
of his Spirit. 

Perhaps it may be allowable here just to mention 
that in this matter Mr. Carey practised as well as 
preached. He steadfastly maintained all through life 
that principle of the Calcutta Union with which he 
commenced his missionary career. 

Sometimes at missionary meetings he would find a 
box of gods and goddesses placed ready for him. A 



540 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



friend would say with animation, u Mr. Carey, we 
have procured these for you." " Oh, have you, sir?" 
he would answer, drily, " thank you; but I think 
they will be better left undisturbed in their box." 
With this sort of exhibition he had no sympathy, 
and would often say, when speaking of it : — " I want 
some other instrument between the tips of my fingers 
and these abominations. I cannot endure them. 
The Scriptures teach us that we should cast them 
to the moles and the bats, and not make a show 
of them. Any one who knew what idolatry really 
was would not for one moment suppose that the 
risibility of the audience could lawfully be excited 
by the objects of a pretended worship so loathsome 
and debasing." 

A gentleman once said — " Mr. Carey makes people 
laugh ; his speeches tend to destroy seriousness." The 
minister to whom this remark was made — a man 
well able to discern things that differ — warmly 
denied its accuracy. Nothing in the whole course of 
his life ever gave Mr. Carey so much pain as did the 
unkindness of this speech. But it was not true, and 
betrayed on the part of him who uttered it a great 
want of perception of the real state of the case. 
Pleasurable excitement Mr. Carey's speeches often 
produced ; undue merriment never. Let it be remem- 
bered that all rapid movement creates sympathetic 
excitement — the rapid flow of words does so; also 



INVITATIONS TO THE PASTORATE. 541 

that laughter is not invariably the exponent of levity. 
As the excitement which accompanied his addresses 
was that of pleasure and not of pain, the smile, nay, 
even the laugh, was perfectly admissible as its natural 
expression, and was by no means indicative of a trifling 
spirit in either speaker or hearers. 

Mr. Carey was several times invited to be a pastor. 
But his friends in England did not succeed much 
better with him in this respect than his friends in 
America. Two or three years after his return he 
received an invitation from the church at Salter's 
Hall, London, which invitation was renewed again 
after a few years. In 1838, he was unanimously 
invited to this office by the Baptist church at 
Reading; and, after his partial secession from tra- 
velling for the Mission, he received two or three 
invitations from churches in the country. In some 
respects he would have been well suited to this 
work. He had strong sympathies, and great ability 
in visiting from house to house, and conducting 
short and delightful services of reading and prayer, 
which he was in the habit of holding at the houses 
of his neighbours. These, together with his great 
cheerfulness and his loving spirit, were just the 
social habits which are suited to the pastorate. He 
used to say — "When I was co-pastor with dear 
Lawson in Calcutta, we used to go out, when I have 
conducted as many as six short services at different 



542 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



houses in the course of one afternoon." It was in 
this way that he collected the beautiful anecdotes 
quoted in a previous chapter. His own unshaken 
confidence in God, with the deep sense which he had 
of his own un worthiness and of the low place which 
he deserved, produced that state of mind suited to 
cheer and comfort the mourner. But trials con- 
nected with the secular business of the Church, and 
with its lesser details, would have been to him 
most appalling. He used to say — " Above all other 
things, I hate to manage ; and, next to that, to be 
managed." He was most certainly unfitted in habits 
and temperament to cope with some of the coarse 
forms under which human nature sometimes presents 
itself in our church relationships. 

Of his social character a few remarks may be made. 
His nomadic sort of life was, of course, not the 
one most advantageous for study ; but it had much 
less effect upon him than might have been expected. 
He had the power of seizing upon every moment, 
and taking up again the train of thought with little 
loss of time. When on the coach or railway he could 
read as intently and studiously as in his own study ; 
and when at friends' houses he would gather up all 
spare moments with great assiduity. Yet if he thought 
his presence would gratify the family with whom he 
was staying, and more especially if he knew that 
friends were invited to meet him, he always took 



REMARKS OF A FRIEND. 



543 



pains to make himself agreeable. On these occasions 
he used to relate anecdotes of his Indian life and of 
his Uncle Dr. Carey, which he thought would be 
interesting to the company. 

One of his numerous and valued friends in the 
country,* whom he used to visit when collecting and 
preaching for the mission, said in conversation with 
a member of Mr. Carey's family — " One trait of 
his character ought to be brought out very pro- 
minently, which was this — his peacemaking spirit; 
among the many families he visited he never was 
the cause of any ill-feeling arising. No ill-natured 
remarks of one to the other — no tittle tattle — no 
slander. Never a word of evil of another; always 
healing and soothing, and setting at one again, was 
his influence. But he had a very quick perception of 
the weak points in any character ; he would make 
playful and witty remarks upon it, but then they 
never wounded, never had any sting in them to leave 
behind. This forms a contrast to sorcfe whom I 
know, who always find so much fault with every- 
body, and do, therefore, much harm as they visit in 
different families." One other remark: — " I sup- 
pose there is not a missionary meeting in the king- 
dom that has not felt his death as a loss — not one 
that did not specially claim him as its own. ' Our 



* At Huntingdon. 



544 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Mr. Carey/ was always the word, and the word was 
the outcoming of the feeling." 

As to his language — " What a peculiar method he 
had of clothing his thoughts. You might bring him 
in a thought — a rugged thought — and he would 
take it in his own hands, and turn it out clothed in 
his own words, and you scarcely knew it again. The 
thought was there, the ruggedness gone ; and you were 
astonished to find how many new phases this thought 
possessed." 

Whatsoever were his own trials, they were locked 
within the secret chamber of his own heart, or known 
only to his family. He never related his trials in the 
ears of his friends; yet was he the sympathizing 
friend and brother, whose ear was always open to the 
tale of another's sorrow. In fact, he invariably re- 
frained from ever making his family the subject of 
conversation. So much so, indeed, was this the case, 
that a gentleman, with whom he had been for several 
years on terms of intimacy, on visiting him at his 
own house, and being introduced to his children, 
exclaimed — " Why, Mr. Carey, I did not know you 
had any children ; I never heard you allude to them." 

His manner of address to all those who were infe- 
rior to him in station or in knowledge was most 
markedly courteous ; and the tendency of it was, of 
course, to draw out the good in others ; for, by the 
invariable respect with which he treated all people, 



OUTLINE OF CHARACTER. 



545 



he always put tliem into good temper, and made them 
respect him and themselves. 

The mercies which he had in travelling from place 
to place were very numerous. One instance out of a 
great many may be mentioned. Being too late in 
reaching the inn from whence the coach was to start, 
he found the seat next the coachman, which he inva- 
riably occupied, was already rilled. He took, there- 
fore, a back seat. One of his fellow-passengers, a 
robust man, buttoned up in a great coat, beguiled the 
time by railing against the Whigs. The coachman 
happened to be a Whig. Mr. Carey spoke in their 
favour. In the middle of one of the old gentleman's 
speeches the coach upset. Mr. Carey, with presence 
of mind, so managed as not to be thrown off. On get- 
ting down to help the rest of the passengers, he picked 
up the old gentleman, and finding that he was not 
hurt, reminded him of the preserving care of God. 
cc That's why I hate these Whigs ; they drive over 
everything/' was the reply. 

The gentleman who occupied the place Mr. Carey 
intended to have taken, had both his legs broken ; 
and the coachman was so seriously injured as to be 
obliged to be left by the way. 

On one of his journeys a Roman Catholic priest 
claimed acquaintance with him, taking him, greatly 
to his amusement, to be a Jesuit father. In replying 

to the question whether he were not Father , 

N N 



546 



MEMOIE OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



Mr. Carey told him he was somewhat mistaken. He 
managed, nevertheless, to continue a most agreeable 
conversation with the priest, and to press home into 
his block of error one or two, to him, ^-orthodox 
wedges.* 

Knowing Mr. Carey's great liberality and oneness 
of heart with all followers of Christ, the writer once 
asked him what he thought of the proposed amalga- 
mation of the Baptist and Independent denominations. 
His answer was — " I should not like to be absorbed. 
While in matters of truth and principle we should 
agree, there is a great difference between us in 
matters of a secondary kind, connected with religious 
taste and habits." Yet, as is well known, his 
denominational peculiarities were never prominently 
brought forward. 

He did not readily form new and intimate friend- 
ships ; but when once formed they were retained with 
great tenacity. Hence he never removed his mem- 
bership from the Circular Road, Calcutta. He used 
to say, " I cannot help any church very much wher- 
ever I reside, on account of my frequent absence from 
home, therefore I shall still remain what I am, a 
member of our church at Calcutta." 

It is much to be regretted that Mr. Carey did not 
write more, especially with reference to Indian 

# The reader who remembers Mr. Carey's costume will not 
so much wonder at this mistake. 



OUTLINE OF CHARACTER. 



547 



matters, for these were really ingrained in his very 
nature and made a part of himself. No one under- 
stood Hindoo idolatry better than he did; no one 
could have written more forcibly upon it, both in its 
practical and philosophical bearing. His mind was 
subtle and penetrating ; perhaps it might be said to 
be more strongly receptive than creative. His power of 
acquisition and assimilation was rapid and thorough. 
This partly arose from the close concentration of 
thought of which he was capable. He had a most 
quick perception of analogies, hence his constant use 
of figures, — joined to this was an innate sympathy 
with the poetic, and an extreme sensibility to the 
influence of rhythm; from which resulted his har- 
monious choice of words and his fastidiousness in com- 
position. But it must be remembered that his inces- 
sant labour in travelling about, preaching and speaking, 
devoured all his energies, and left him, on his return 
home, often without either ability or inclination for 
literary composition. Besides, he had a great dislike 
to the mechanical part of writing. As a boy, he was 
more successful in the handling of words, if such a term 
may be used, than in handling tools or implements of 
any kind. 

So many years having been passed in a wandering 
life, and as a visitor at the houses of the several 
friends who entertained him, it was not to be won- 
dered at that he found the quiet daily routine of 

N K 2 



548 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



home-life somewhat uncongenial, especially as he had 
no lesser pursuits with which to vary his occupation, 
such as gardening. This he regretted more than any 
one else, and sedulously strove to take an interest in 
every minor detail of home ; and as to the gardening, 
he would most zealously work at it until forced from 
very weariness to desist. 

He was not, like his uncle, a naturalist ; yet had 
he great love for flowers. How often he referred to 
a sentence of Henry Martyn's, quoted by him in his 
Uncle's Life, and into the spirit of which he so fully 
entered — u With a blade of grass, or a straw, I find 
myself in good company/' A friend, a market- 
gardener, sent him a fuchsia. What pleasure that 
flower gave him when placed upon his study table. 
His thoughts, he would say, flowed more easily with 
that before his eyes. When writing to his beloved 
friend, Mrs. Read, of Wincobank Hall, he says — " I 
am much delighted at the thought of returning 
spring. The delicate primrose and the blushing 
violet charm me, and the promise of verdure, and 
blossom, and universal beauty, and fruitfulness cheers 
one's heart and exhilarates the spirits, and makes 
the mind spring elastic and joyous to the praise 
of Him who renews the face of the earth f Who 
causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb 
for the service of man, that he may bring forth food 
out of the earth.' 



OUTLINE OF CHARACTER. 



549 



"What a fair world had this been had not sin 
marred the works of God, and turned his mercies 
into snares and curses. c But we look for new heavens 
and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness/ 
Nor need we wait for the dawn of eternity ere we 
realize this blessedness. The dispositions and desires 
of a renovated heart already c make all things new/ 
give us a superior interest in created things than 
otherwise we could have enjoyed. They make us 
view them as the donations of our Father's love, and 
earnests of his ineffable and eternal smiles. 'All 
things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is 
God's/ " 

His child's predilection for the military profession 
was retained throughout life. He took great interest 
in our recent war with Russia. He had some con- 
siderable knowledge of military tactics, and entered 
into the stratagems of war with so much spirit that 
it was quite a treat to any one of his family to read 
to him the various thrilling details upon the subject. 
In like manner, the Life of the Luke of Wellington 
afforded him great pleasure. He often said — " Mar- 
tial music always quickens my pulse." 

His sense of the ridiculous was most keen. 
Perhaps of the lighter part of his character this 
was the strongest. He thought this was a snare 
to him, and therefore tried most anxiously to keep 
it under control. So successful was he in doing 



550 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



this, that some of his friends were not aware of his 
possessing this faculty. 

It is supposed that no one will deny that the 
possession of a loving, gentle spirit was Mi\ Carey's 
most distinguishing characteristic, showing itself as 
it did in urbanity and serenity of manner. Few 
were aware of the strength of burning, passionate 
feeling which lay concealed under the impertur- 
bably calm demeanour. A much valued medical 
friend, who is known for his intimate study of the 
w connexion between body and soul/' was almost the 
only one to discover this. He said to him one day : 
"Mr. Carey, when once excited, do you not rage 
inwardly for a long time ? The fire in you will take 
long to kindle, but will take equally long to extin- 
guish." "Ah!" said Mr, Carey, laughing; "how 
did you make that out?" 

He never exerted much authority as a parent ; per- 
haps, in some respects, not sufficiently so. But his 
gentle, u It would much please me if you did so and so," 
was more powerful than the strongest command ; and 
his loving look of approval at any self-control mani- 
fested was a greater incentive to further exertion 
than any homily on the virtue would have been. Yet 
did his children ever find that his quietness was the 
outgrowth of his firmness ; for, if ever they pressed a 
point in opposition to his wishes, and fancied they 
had nearly gained his consent, the quiet " Well, my 



OUTLINE OF CHARACTER. 



551 



dear, you may do it if you like, but I had rather you 
did not/ 3 placed the matter most hopelessly where it 
was before, and where it must remain ; for his " rather 
not" was a sacred line they very rarely, if ever, passed. 
He never seemed to wish or expect them to regard 
him as free from faults, but trusted himself fearlessly 
to their love ; yet, the older they grew, the more 
they appreciated and esteemed his character, while so 
much the stronger grew the love and sympathy 
between them. 

The reader will have noticed throughout the book 
the entire absence of all religious diaries. To the 
keeping of these, much more to their publication, 
Mr. Carey always expressed the most decided 
aversion. The heart-struggles and the innermost 
throes of the spirit were not suited to the perusal of 
the public eye. It may just be noticed, that while 
his trust in God was unwavering, yet his distrust of 
himself, and doubts of his own acceptance, were most 
painful. So low did he lie before his Lord, and so 
much did he feel his own uselessness, that when 
speaking, shortly before his removal, with Mrs. Carey 
on the hope of meeting in heaven, his reply was: 
"Ah! if I get there/' 

It remains only to remark, that if it should appear 
to any that the colouring thrown over this portraiture 
of Mr. Carey's life is brighter than a hand less 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



nearly united to his would have made it, it can truly 
be said, that it has been throughout the sincere 
desire to present that life as truthfully and impar- 
tially as possible; and that, if this aim has not 
been realized, none will regret it more deeply than 
the writer. 



CHAP. XIX. 



EVENING, WITH ITS CLOUDS, PEOLONGING ITS LAST 
GOLDEN BEAMS. 

" Our time is but a day !" 

If wearied with the length of the hours of noon 
— with its sun, and wind, and interchange of cloud 
and rain — the reader will now welcome the calm 
western sky, which comes not in the cold dead of 
night, but in the evening, so still and tranquil — in 
the evening time, when "there shall be light," which 
shall quicken into matured life and glory the soul 
that falls asleep in Jesus ; for of such an one it must 
be ever said — 

" Life can but gently lead him on, 
Not hurry him away." 

There are now only one or two incidents to be re- 
corded. In the spring of 1855 Mr. Carey took one 
of his old missionary tours in the West of England, 
in company with his friend Dr. Hoby. He visited 
at Taunton and Wellington some very old and valued 
friends residing there. On his way home he spent a 



554 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



few days at Bristol, in the house of another much- 
esteemed friend. He had much pleasure in the 
society of his friends, and returned home after three 
weeks' absence in his usual health. To his family, 
notwithstanding all that was apparent to the contrary, 
his illness at Bradford, in 1852, remained ever a pain- 
ful monitor ; and but for the recollection that never 
more fully in the experience of any one than in his 
own were the lines applicable — 

" Go, and return secure from death, 
Till Christ shall call thee home/ 5 

their anxiety about him on his leaving home would 
have been insufferable. 

Shortly after his return, one Lord's Day morning 
in June, Mr. Carey preached in a chapel in his own 
immediate neighbourhood. Before leaving his dwell- 
ing, he requested Mrs. Carey to tell no one in his family 
of this engagement, but wished especially that she and 
they should go to their usual place of worship. 

On returning from the service, Mrs. Carey noticed 
in his countenance an unusual beaming forth of plea- 
sure. Before she had time to inquire the cause, 
he said to her, u I have not had so much enjoyment 
in preaching for many years. How strange ! It has 
seemed to me this morning that I have been preaching 
with all the vigour and warmth of my youth." The 
delight which this circumstance gave him was of the 



LAST ENGAGEMENTS. 



555 



purest and intensest kind, and cannot be described. 
There was nothing which Mr. Carey dreaded so much 
as being laid aside from all service in the Church of 
Christ. Some fear of natural death he had sometimes, 
but of inanition and old age he had an afflictive dread. 
The thought of lingering years of inactivity, decrepi- 
tude, and listlessness, was that which he could not 
contemplate at all times with calmness, although as 
a Christian he was resigned to the will of his heavenly 
Father. Of his safety in such keeping he had not the 
shadow of a doubt ; it was with adoring gratitude he 
prayed, "Not my will, but thine be done." His 
loving Saviour knew all this. He had watched the 
long and weary way by which his servant had been 
led about in the wilderness. Long had his beloved 
companions gone before him, and why is he kept thus 
lingering on the plain? But let thy heart take 
courage ! cc Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently 
for him. He will come, he will not tarry." 

But here lies the secret of his great delight*. The 
thought of his having preached forcibly and effectively, 
and with pleasure to himself, and perhaps with ac- 
ceptance to others, was that which so much gratified 
him. The feeling was naturally this: "I am not 
altogether useless and unprofitable ; my Saviour has 
heard and answered my prayer, and given me this 
little reviving, and the recurrence of by-gone impres- 
sions when least expected." 



556 MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



But to the one who had watched his countenance 
with a thrilling interest there accompanied the rela- 
tion of this incident a strange presentiment. So 
that while offering him congratulation, like an electric 
shock an unsolicited thought came again and knocked 
at the door of the innermost chamber of the mind ; 
and like that intrusive " second voice," uttered itself 
discordantly. " This is not the warm glow of the set- 
ting sun, which will linger long and spread abroad in 
your heavens. Mark ! it is the brilliant darting forth 
over the not distant hill whither he is tending, of 
the light of eternal day, where the soul's youth 
blooms and matures in ever-growing health and 
vigour." 

And now that — 

" East and West, without a breath 
Mixt their dim lights, like life and death, 
To broaden into boundless day;" 

it is but for us once more to watch intently the sky, 
and instead of the " early grey of morning," we shall 
discern on the hill-top of the souFs horizon, the bril- 
liant gleaming forth of a glorious " sun, which shall no 
more go down ; for the Lord shall be his everlasting 
light, and the days of his mourning shall be ended." 

On Lord's Day, July 15th, Mr. Carey preached 
two sermons at St. Alban's for his much valued friend, 
the Rev. W. Upton. His text both morning and 
evening was from Heb. ii. 10. It was thought by 



LAST ENGAGEMENTS. 



557 



some part of Mr. Upton's family that Mr. Carey was 
not quite well ; but his own report of these services 
was that he had passed through them with tolerable 
comfort. On Monday morning he returned home in 
his usual health. 

During breakfast, not many mornings before the 
events now to be narrated, Mr. Carey had been asked 
by Mrs. Carey to give his opinion of the text " Pre- 
cious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his 
saints/' He said to this effect — " That as all things 
were made by God, in the lives of his saints, subser- 
vient to his will, and were ordered by him for their 
good, so in the event of their death, and all the 
detail connected with it, his care and love would order 
and arrange everything in such a way as to show that 
they are dear unto their Lord." 

On Wednesday morning, the 18th, he called 
upon a friend in St. John's Wood. When reminded 
by Mrs. Carey that he had an engagement in the 
afternoon, and that this walk might be too much for 
him, his reply was — " Let us go this morning ; we 
do not know what may hinder us to-morrow." He 
enjoyed much his interview with his dear friend : one 
of those who in his slighter ailments cared for him, 
and comforted him when a wanderer from his distant 
home and his family. With what expressions of ten- 
derness he spoke of those who "bestowed labour 
on him/' so beautifully portraying, as he used to 



558 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



say they did, * those features in the minor morals of 
the gospel so appropriately alluded to by the Apostle 
Paul in some of his epistles." 

On his friend's table there stood a vase of beautiful 
flowers just gathered from the garden. On taking 
this in his hand, and regaling himself with the 
perfume, he addressed to his and their Creator a 
devout ejaculation, thus making their breath with his 
own vocal with the high praises of his God. Then 
turning to his friend, he complimented her on the 
nice adjustment which she had made of the flowers 
as to harmony of colour and general arrangement. 

In the afternoon of this day he attended a service 
at Hackney — the laying the foundation-stone of 
the Baptist chapel. On his leaving the house his 
daughter went to open the door ; turning round and 
looking intently at her, he said — " My child, my love 
be with you now, and ever." No reply was or could 
be given, save the answering look ; but as she slowly 
moved away, some words, addressed 1800 years ago 
to a few broken-hearted, bewildered men — " My 
peace I leave with you" — rose up and ranged them- 
selves side by side with the father's words, but in 
this case over the warm feeling of the deep, strong 
love there fell not the slightest shadow of the fear 
of coming evil. 

Many friends at Hackney complimented him on 
his good looks. His friend, Dr. Hoby, saw him at 



LAST ENGAGEMENTS. 



559 



some little distance, and did not at first recognise 
him, chiefly, as he said, on account of his youthful 
appearance. 

The sun was intensely hot on this day ; but Mr. 
Carey, during the service, shielded himself, as he was 
in the habit of doing, with his umbrella. He left 
after the service, and returned home to tea. The 
evening he spent with his family. After tea there 
was a lingering in each other's society — his sons 
were not at home — there were only three sitting 
together on this evening. Their hands as well as 
their hearts were united, and this meeting seemed 
to have a hallowed, as well as a pleasingly social 
influence about it ; as if they had met not only in 
their own, but in His name. Mr. Carey rose to go 
into his study. At his daughter's request he again 
sat down : she said — " How happy are we three sit- 
ting together/' After that he requested Mrs. Carey 
to take a walk with him in the garden. These were 
happy hours. But they were the last spent thus 
together. He mentioned to Mrs. Carey that it was 
his wish on the morrow to attend the service at 
Bloomsbury Chapel, and that he should invite his 
daughter to accompany him. 

On Thursday morning, July 19th, Mr. Carey arose 
as usual, breakfasted with his family, and retired to 
his study, at nine o'clock, for his usual devotional 
reading. This reading consisted invariably of two 



560 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



chapters in the Old Testament in Hebrew, and one 
in the New in Greek : and frequently, as a memorial 
of the past, a Wesley an hymn. This occupied about 
an hour, after which Mr. Carey was in the habit 
of taking an early walk, and then returning to the 
allotted studies of the morning. To this routine 
of occupation, when at home, he had been long 
habituated; and he never departed from it unless 
compelled by circumstances. 

As the morning was wet, his intention of going to 
Bloomsbury Chapel was relinquished, and he began 
his morning's work. This was the preparation of a 
sermon for the following Lord's Day, to be preached 
for the Mission at Houghton Regis. The subject was 
Heb. ii. 14—18. 

The drift of thought which occupied Mr. Carey's 
mind at this solemn moment was on that sublime 
truth which has filled the universe with blessing, and 
all holy intelligences with astonishment and adoring 
admiration — that Jesus, the ineffable, the all-glorious 
Son of the Father, the Word who was with Him in 
the beginning — before the days of old — should take 
hold of the seed of Abraham, and as the divine 
Logos, in the form of man, was not ashamed to call 
them brethren, saying: " I will declare thy name, to 
my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I 
praise thee." This feature of the Redeemer's glorious 
work was the subject of his thought on this memorable 
morning. 



THE CLOSING SCENE. 



561 



It was a summer's day, but the rain and storm 
of the morning were gently indicative of the scene 
through which this servant of Christ and all dear to 
him was about to pass so suddenly. Yet, to him 
who was, without a moment's notice, placed under 
this cloud of the Almighty, how soon did his sun 
emerge which was hidden for a small moment, 
unveiling itself in all the splendour of an eternal 
day ; while, to his disconsolate ones, it was night and 
all but impenetrable gloom. 

Next to God's precious words were some which his 
own pen had indited, and his own lips spoken for the 
consolation of the mourner ; and they are treasured 
now by the mourning family as their own special 
bequest : — 

"If husband and wife, parent and child, and 
dearest friends are separated, is there, then, no hope 
of meeting again and for ever ? 

" At death there is an interruption of fellowship 
and suspension of intercourse — a dividing of mind 
from mind, and body from body; yet though dear 
friends are thus removed from our society, they cease 
not, on that account, to be; but all the higher felicities 
and purposes of communion will return, purified and 
enhanced under more auspicious circumstances; — this, 
therefore, should qualify grief and sanctify sorrow. 

u Moreover, they have retired under a divine 
guardianship, and when the night of mortality shall 

o o 



562 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



be passed, God himself will marshal them with the 
hosts of his redeemed, and bring them in the train of 
his triumphant Son into the heaven of heavens, that 
they may € be ever with the Lord/ We are to 
c comfort one another with these words/ M 

There was a storm once on the Galilean lake — a 
ship was tossed with the waves, for the wind was 
contrary. It was night, and Jesus was not come to 
them : every heart failed them for fear — all was 
tumult without, and dismay within. In the hurry 
of the elements Jesus came, walking on the water ; 
enfolding for a moment his humanity in the mantle 
of his omnipotence, and girding on his majesty, as 
when he said — " Let there be light, and light was ;" 
so now, to the troubled waters — " Peace, be still! 
And there was a great calmP There was another 
storm on the lake, when his Godhead was wrapped 
in his humanity. u He was asleep on a pillow." 
In the one he was Immanuel, God with us; in 
the other, the man Christ Jesus. In the one case, 
he speaks to our fear and dread by the words, " It is 
I ; be not afraid ;" in the other, to our want of con- 
fidence — "How is it that ye have no faith?" Yet 
in each to our tenderest love he whispers — cc Let not 
your heart be troubled. What I do, thou knowest 
not now | but thou shalt know hereafter." 

Those of his who watched the shattering of the 
bark which contained their most precious treasure on 



THE CLOSING SCENE. 



563 



earth, added no ripple to the waters which their Saviour 
had spoken into peace, for it was the mournful pri- 
vilege of his wife and daughter to be enabled to 
remain by him without interrupting his last conscious 
moments with their own agonizing grief. 

No word or sob broke in upon the stillness of that 
fearful hour; nothing that could in any way recal 
to earth the spirit just entering into heaven. For 
this they have ever been most thankful. 

It is for us now to enter the secret chamber in 
silence; and, if with trembling step, yet with quiet 
acquiescence, leaning on the "everlasting arms," 
which "are underneath." To think that earth 
should be so near to heaven— the very portal of the 
"house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!" 
Before doing so the writer would acknowledge, 
with adoring gratitude, that the Saviour was found 
to be preeminently there, and to have arranged all 
the manner of his servant's death with the most 
tender, loving kindness ; giving to the afflicted one 
another proof that — "Precious in the sight of the 
Lord is the death of his saints." 

About half-past ten, on Thursday morning, Mr. 
Carey's daughter, from a sudden impulse, left her 
own room, where she was busy writing, and came 
into his study, exclaiming, as she entered — " I am 
merely come to look at you, and to kiss you, darling." 
Returning the kiss, he said — "Where is your mother? 



564 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAREY. 



what is she so long about ?" She playfully rejoined — 
"Why, you saw her but a little while ago." Some 
more conversation followed, and then he suddenly rose 
to seek Mrs. Carey. This was soon after 11 a.m. 

Mr. Carey now came into the dining-room, 
where he found Mrs. Carey filling up a candidate's 
application for admission to the Orphan Working 
School; and being asked by her to sign this paper, 
he sat down and did so. 

On her making some allusion to the widow's 
departed husband, Mr. Carey was filled with deep 
emotion, for he was one whom he loved in the Lord, 
and to whom he had administered consolation in his 
last moments. He wept with his weeping neighbour, 
and then returned to his study. About ten minutes 
after this, Mrs. Carey went to her husband's room door, 
with no definite object; but, having always some 
vague presentiment that evil might befal him. 

He had left the door ajar, and she began by making 
a little request on behalf of the widow's son. Before 
the sentence was uttered, the fearful reality presented 
itself. He was sitting in his chair, and evidently had 
but just left off writing. The hand of God had 
smitten him. Medical aid was instantly present; 
and besides the first called in, his own family surgeon 
was with him in a very short time; but it was a 
rupture of a blood-vessel in the head. Means were 
unavailing, and all was very soon over. 



THE CLOSING SCENE. 



565 



With the sufferer there was consciousness only for 
a quarter of an hour, and to the remark which was 
uttered by Mrs. Carey, with conscious misgiving : 
" You will be better soon, my love," there was the 
ready answer : " I hope so." Except one allusion to 
his bodily feelings, this was his last utterance; he 
spoke not again, but sunk into unconsciousness, and, 
about 2.30 p.m., his Redeemer most gently laid his 
hand upon his spirit, and ff he was not, for God had 
taken him." 



566 



MEMOIR OF EUSTACE CAEEY. 



In conclusion, the writer wishes gratefully to 
acknowledge the esteem and sympathy which were 
expressed for Mr. Carey and his family in resolutions 
passed by the Baptist Missionary Committee, and 
published in the Herald of August, ] 855. These 
were addressed to Mrs. Carey, and accompanied by 
letters from the treasurer, Sir Morton S. Peto, and 
the secretary, the Rev. F. Trestrail, both expressive of 
kindest regard ; Mr. Trestrail observing — " In your 
husband I have lost a kind and esteemed friend, and 
a most valuable and able coadjutor in the important 
duties I have to discharge." 

A similar acknowledgment the writer also presents 
for the numerous letters of affectionate consolation 
received from ministers and friends. 

On Tuesday, in the next week, Mr. Carey's remains 
were followed to the grave by his two sons, several 
ministers and friends, also by a deputation from the 
Missionary Committee ; and were consigned to their 
earthly resting-place in High gate Cemetery. 

The Rev. Dr. Hoby, Mr. Carey's oldest and most 
intimate surviving friend, preached a funeral sermon 
on the following Lord's-day, and the Rev. W. Brock 
also made kind and special mention of his life and 
labours on the evening of the same day. 



CONCLUSION. 567 

A simple stone thus records the spot where he was 
interred : — 

In J^temort) of 
EUSTACE CAREY, 

A MISSIONARY IN INDIA, 
WHO DIED, JULY 19, 1855, IN THE 64TH YEAR OF HIS AGE. 
" Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 



It is but for us now 
testifleth these things 
quickly." 

"Amen. Even so 



to remember, that He who 
saith : — " Surely, I come 

come, Lord Jesus." 



THE END. 



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